Austin Theory’s WWE downfall not to be attributed to Vince McMahon, wrestling legend explains (Exclusive)

The WWE future of Austin Theory once seemed bright. The Georgia native quickly made his name by earning a main roster spot three months after debuting in WWE. Vince McMahon later hand-picked Theory for an apparent mega-push, but now his star has fallen and a wrestling legend recently opened up on the matter, while promising to get to the bottom of things.

The former US Champion signed with World Wrestling Entertainment in August 2019 while still EVOLVE Champion and later worked a featured storyline with the former Chairman, which included a RAW coronation after Theory's first United States Title win. McMahon continued the push, but it abruptly stopped amid Vince's scandal that led to his departure.

As A-Town Down Under, Theory and Grayson Waller began teaming up in September 2023 and became WWE Tag Team Champions at WrestleMania XL. A split has been teased for months as the duo fell to the lower-midcard.

Bill Apter has been sounding the alarm over Theory's current status and was shocked at last week's squash loss to Jey Uso. Theory was pinned by Uso again on this week's RAW, and Sportskeeda Wrestling's Senior Editor wondered if this could be a bad sign for Theory's future.

In a follow-up, the 2024 International Professional Wrestling Hall of Famer expressed amazement at how WWE is using the 27-year-old. Apter also dismissed speculation about Theory's current run being linked to his push from McMahon and indicated he plans to investigate.

"It just amazes me, this guy is so very talented. They should be using him much stronger than they are right now. Do I think it's because he was pushed by Vince McMahon? My answer is: Unequivocally no. Something else must be going on here," said Bill.

Apter continued:

"Triple H and his team know good talent when they see it... For some reason, Theory is not being used in the way he should be used. He's a real good talent, but the WWE machine usually has a good reason that we just don't know about, yet. I'm going to dig into my sources and see if I can find out what's going on."

Theory's last singles win came on January 26, 2024, when he defeated Carmelo Hayes during SmackDown. A-Town Down Under defeated Alpha Academy on Main Event last month, two weeks after defeating Oba Femi and Trick Williams on NXT.