When last we saw Theory, he’d been F5-ed onto his Money in the Bank briefcase at SummerSlam on July 30 in Nashville.
Taking off last Monday’s Raw to sell that humiliation, and his loss to Bobby Lashley the same night in Nissan Stadium, and the Roman Reigns burn from the Monday before (now available in men’s and women’s sizes!)... made sense. But two consecutive shows with nary a mention of the youngest Mr. Money in the Bank of all-time?*
Odd, innit?
Obviously there’s a lot going on in WWE these days. Triple H’s ascension to the creative & talent relations throne in the wake of his father-in-law’s resignation gives us several logical explanations for Theory’s absence. At the same time, they give us even more reasons to speculate about his future:
• Is he being kept off our screens for a while in hopes we won’t think of him as Vince McMahon’s latest “chosen one” when he returns?
• Are they stalling for time while they figure out what to do about the briefcase, as it seems extremely unlikely he’ll be taking either the WWE or Universal title off Reigns, let alone both?
• Could this be some sort of experiment to see how fans react? A way to get feedback on how to present the 23 year old when they do decide to bring him back?
• He was signed when Triple H was still running NXT, so he’s almost certainly an Haitch guy. But maybe he isn’t?
• Did Dexter Lumis kidnap him? It wouldn’t be the first time...
It could also be “none of the above”, and A-Town is simply down with an injury. But love him or hate him, the longer Theory is off TV, the more we’re gonna wonder what happened. It’s our nature as wrestling fans.
Which is something Trips & team seem to understand. Could they have disappeared Theory to get us to talk about him? Oh well, won’t be the first time they’ve played me like a fiddle. Won’t be the last either.
Let us know what you think, Cagesiders. Where’s Theory? When will he be back? Do you even care?
* UPDATE: When this was written, I was unaware Theory had shared about a death in his family on July 31. There’s speculation that’s the reason for his absence, and it certainly could be. We send our condolences to Austin and his family, but still think it’s an interesting and harmless fan exercise to wondering if there are other explanations for how WWE’s handled the absence of someone who was a major part of their programming prior to SummerSlam.
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