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Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell feels Austin Theory is a bigger star just by rubbing shoulders with The Rock.
Pat McAfee, in a surprise appearance, kicked off SmackDown this week. He was soon confronted by his former rival Theory. The 26-year-old star claimed he had unfinished business with Pat and threatened to take him on. However, this confrontation stopped when The Rock's music hit, and the legendary star came out amidst deafening cheers from the fans.
This week on Smack Talk, Mantell mentioned that the segment instantly made Theory feel like a big star. He stated that the rookie would be more over by sharing the ring with established stars like The Rock and McAfee. He was also interested to see how WWE would carry this momentum forward.
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"See, this is the type of segment that gets talent over. Now, Austin Theory is over more right now than he was before tonight. He didn't beat nobody but he got a lot of attention. And look at the ring he shared. I call this getting over by osmosis. He's in the ring with Pat McAfee, and then, out of nowhere, The Rock shows up. Now, it's getting interesting. So I'm gonna be highly interested to see what this segment did." [From 2:38 - 3:10]
You can watch the full video here:
You can catch the full results of SmackDown here.
Austin Theory had a message for The Rock after SmackDown
After being at the receiving of a People's Elbow, Theory took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a message with his assailant.
Theory left a four-word message for The Rock, claiming that the Brahma Bull would remember their encounter for a long time.
"You’ll Remember The Name," he said.
This isn't the first time Theory has come face-to-face with a legend. He got a Stunner from Stone Cold last year at WrestleMania. Earlier this year, he defended the United States Championship against John Cena at the Show of Shows.
Would you like to see more of Rocky in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you use the first half quotes from this article, please embed the Youtube video and add a H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.
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