Austin Theory

Austin White (born August 2, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Austin Theory.

Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the independent circuit, including several promotions under the World Wrestling Network umbrella, such as Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Evolve – along the way winning the WWN Championship, FIP World Heavyweight Championship and the Evolve Championship.

In WWE, he is a one-time United States Champion and won the 2022 Money in the Bank ladder match, guaranteeing him an opportunity at a world championship for one year.

Early life

White was born on August 2, 1997 in the Atlanta suburb of McDonough, Georgia. He was a fan of professional wrestling in his youth, and cites John Cena as a huge influence. In 2015, he placed first in the NPC Georgia Bodybuilding Championship, Teen Men category when he was 17.

Professional wrestling career

Early years (2016–2019)

On May 5, 2016, he made his debut under the ring name Austin Theory, defeating A. R. Fox at a WWA4 event to win the WWA4 Heavyweight Championship. Theory made his Progress Wrestling debut on April 1, 2017 at a Progress and Evolve joint show, where he lost to Keith Lee in a four way match, that also involving Jason Kincaid and Blaster McMassive. On August 12, Theory lost to Mark Haskins in a four way match, that also involving Mark Andrews and Keith Lee. At Chapter 67, Theory teamed with Jinny to defeat Will Ospreay and Kay Lee Ray.

On August 12, 2016, Theory made his World Wrestling Network debut at Full Impact Pro (FIP)'s Heatstroke, alongside AC Mack. On January 7, 2017, at Style Battle, Theory was defeated by A. R. Fox. Theory made his Evolve debut at Evolve 78, defeating Darby Allin. At Evolve 97, Theory defeated Fred Yehi to win the FIP World Heavyweight Championship. At FIP Everything Burns, Theory retained his title against Martin Stone. At Evolve 100, Theory failed to win the Evolve Championship against Zack Sabre Jr.. At Evolve 103, Theory defeated Keith Lee to win the WWN Championship, ending Lee's 175 day reign. At Evolve 106, Theory lost the WWN Championship to Joey Janela. On September 30 at Accelerate, he lost the FIP World Heavyweight Championship to Anthony Henry. At Evolve 117, Theory defeated Fabian Aichner and Roderick Strong to win the Evolve Championship. At Evolve 139 on November 9, 2019, he lost the Evolve Championship to Josh Briggs.

On June 16, 2018, Theory made his debut for Mexican promotion The Crash Lucha Libre by losing to Rey Horus. On March 2, 2019, Theory defeated Willie Mack, Bárbaro Cavernario and Sansón to win The Crash Heavyweight Championship. On June 14, Theory made his Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre debut representing The Crash, teaming with Carístico and Volador Jr. to defeat Rush and La Peste Negra (Bárbaro Cavernario and Negro Casas).

WWE

Prior to his signing with the company, he participated in a WWE tryout in February 2018. On April 8, during day 4 of WrestleMania Axxess, Theory retained his WWN Championship by defeating Marcel Barthel.

NXT and Raw debuts (2019–2020)

On August 15, 2019, it was announced that he had signed a contract with WWE, and would report to the WWE Performance Center. On the December 25 episode of NXT, Theory made his in-ring debut, accepting an open challenge against Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship, but failed to win the title. On the January 8, 2020 episode of NXT, Theory achieved his first victory by defeating Joaquin Wilde.

Theory appeared on the March 30 episode of Raw as an associate of Zelina Vega, establishing himself as a heel. Theory teamed with Angel Garza and Seth Rollins in a losing effort to Kevin Owens and Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). On the second night of WrestleMania 36 on April 5, Theory teamed with Garza to unsuccessfully challenge The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team Championship. The following night on Raw, Theory and Garza lost to The Street Profits in a rematch for the titles. After defeating Akira Tozawa on the April 13 episode of Raw, Vega's other associates, Garza and Andrade joined him in beating down Tozawa as all three posed together, confirming their status as a faction. However, on the May 18 episode of Raw, he was attacked by Andrade and Garza after accidentally costing them a tag team match against Apollo Crews and Kevin Owens, kicking him out of the faction. Later that same night, he assisted Seth Rollins and Murphy in attacking Aleister Black, formally joining Rollins' group as a disciple. However, following the June 22 episode of Raw, he stopped appearing with Rollins and Murphy.

The Way (2020–2021)

Main article: The Way

On the August 26 episode of NXT, Theory returned to television by interrupting Bronson Reed, moving back to the brand. He then made his in-ring return on the September 8 episode of NXT, losing to Reed. Following this, Theory would spend most of his time in NXT as enhancement talent, losing matches to the likes of Kushida and Dexter Lumis. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames on December 6, Theory helped Johnny Gargano win his third NXT North American Championship. He then appeared on the December 9 episode of NXT to reveal he was part of a villainous faction called The Way with Gargano, his real life wife Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell. On December 30, Theory won the 2020 NXT Year-End Award for Future Star of NXT.

In January 2021, Theory and Gargano competed in the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, losing to Kushida and Leon Ruff in the first round. For the next few months, Theory helped Gargano retain the North American Championship against numerous opponents. Following a loss to Kyle O'Reilly on the July 20 episode of NXT, Theory took an absence from NXT television, until he returned on the premiere of NXT 2.0, attending the wedding of Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis in his final NXT appearance.

Storyline with Mr. McMahon (2021–2022)

As part of the 2021 Draft, Theory was drafted to the Raw brand. On the October 4 episode of Raw, Theory returned to the brand by attacking Jeff Hardy following his loss to Damian Priest and defeated him on the next two episodes of Raw. On the November 15 episode of Raw, after Rey Mysterio was injured by Bobby Lashley, Theory was announced as his replacement in the Raw men's team at Survivor Series. At the event on November 21, Theory eliminated Sheamus before being eliminated by Jeff Hardy. The following night on Raw, it was revealed that Theory took Cleopatra's Egg from Mr. McMahon, leading to McMahon to reward Theory a WWE Championship match against Big E in the main event for "showing intestinal fortitude", which he lost.

On the January 17, 2022 episode of Raw, after defeating Finn Bálor, McMahon rewarded Theory a spot in the Royal Rumble match. At the namesake event on January 29, Theory entered the match at #3, lasting 22 minutes before being eliminated by AJ Styles. On the January 31 episode of Raw, Theory defeated Kevin Owens in a Elimination Chamber qualifying match. At Elimination Chamber on February 19, Theory failed to win the WWE Championship after being last pinned by Brock Lesnar in a match also involving Seth "Freakin" Rollins, AJ Styles, Riddle and defending champion Bobby Lashley; towards the end of the match, Lesnar and Theory generated buzz when Lesnar delivered his finishing move, the F-5, throwing Theory from the top of one of the Chamber's pods down to the floor. On the February 28 episode of Raw, Theory bribed McMahon into having himself accompany him to his interview with Pat McAfee to no avail. That same week, on the March 4 episode of SmackDown, Theory confronted McAfee and announced he would be his opponent at WrestleMania 38. On the second night of the event on April 3, Theory lost to McAfee, but helped McMahon defeat McAfee in the subsequent fight that ensued right after.

United States Champion and Mr. Money in the Bank (2022–present)

The following night on Raw, Theory and The Usos defeated RK-Bro and Finn Bálor after Theory pinned Bálor, earning the chance to challenge for his title. In a backstage segment the following week, Theory announced that he and Mr. McMahon had decided that the name Austin did not suit him anymore, dropping the first name and going by Theory. On the April 18 episode of Raw, Theory defeated Bálor to win the United States Championship for the first time in his career; with this win, he became the second-youngest United States Champion in the title's history and the youngest champion under the WWE banner. At Hell in a Cell on June 5, Theory retained the title against Mustafa Ali. At Money in the Bank on July 2, Theory lost the United States Championship to Bobby Lashley, ending his reign at 75 days. Later that night, he was added to and won the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match; this win made him the youngest superstar to win the Money in the Bank contract in WWE history, as well as being the first Money in the Bank winner to lose a title and win the contract on the same night. At SummerSlam on July 30, Theory failed to regain the United States Championship in a rematch against Lashley. Later that night, he attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract during the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Last Man Standing match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but was hit with an F-5 by Lesnar before he could officially cash in. At Clash at the Castle on September 3, with his ring name reverted back to Austin Theory, he and Alpha Academy lost to The Street Profits and Madcap Moss in the pre-show. Later that night, he again attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract during the main event, only to be knocked out by Tyson Fury before officially doing so.

Championships and accomplishments

Bodybuilding

• National Physique Committee
  • NPC Georgia Teen, Men's bodybuilding championship winner (1 time)

Professional wrestling

File:Austin Theory Evolve Champion.jpg

In Evolve, Theory is a former Evolve Champion.

File:Austin Theory FIP World Heavyweight Champion.jpg

In FIP, Theory is a former FIP World Heavyweight Champion.

• The Crash Lucha Libre
  • The Crash Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Evolve
  • Evolve Championship (1 time)
• Full Impact Pro
  • FIP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Fire Star Pro Wrestling
  • FSPW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Mucha Lucha Atlanta
  • MLA Global Championship (1 time)
• National Championship Wrestling
  • NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Peachstate Wrestling Alliance
  • PWA Heritage Championship (1 time)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 80 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019
• World Wrestling Network
  • WWN Championship (2 times)
• WWA4
  • WWA4 Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• WWE
  • WWE United States Championship (1 time)
  • Money in the Bank (Men’s 2022)
  • NXT Year-End Award for Future Star of NXT (2020)
• Xtreme Wrestling Alliance
  • XWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

External links

• Austin Theory's profile on WWE.com
• Austin Theory on Twitter
• Austin White at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Big E

Mr. Money in the Bank 2022

Succeeded by Incumbent