WWE fans and critics alike frequently talk about performers who are “benched,” meaning they are pushed to the sideline without any explanation. Kept off television, even as fans scream about their potential. Controversial as he may be (and we’ll discuss why), Austin Theory is one of those performers. The 28 year old WWE superstar hasn’t been seen on television for months, and as rumors swirl about where he may pop back up, there’s no telling what his career looks like in the future.
The last time Austin Theory took part in a main roster show was back on May 5 when he was defeated by Sheamus in less than 10 minutes. After that, he was relegated to WWE Main Event, where he was defeated time after time.
During this run, he and his tag team partner, Grayson Waller, were hinting at a split that would have culminated into a match of some sort. However, that never came to be. Theory suffered an injury and Waller started sidling up with The New Day. In August, reports were that Theory was removed from the active roster, and the speculation about his future would start from there.
Fast forward to later in 2025, and rumors started that Theory would potentially be added to The Vision heading into WWE Survivor Series WarGames. Several reports started in October that even with Seth Rollins’s injury, Theory could still be added to that match. As of this writing, the Bron Breakker lead team still has one more slot which could go to a returning Theory.
Is Austin Theory ready for the spotlight?
It will be interesting to not only see how Theory performs in such a position, but how fans will respond to him. He’s been here before. Or close to it. Vince McMahon took a strong liking to Theory and that was clear from how he was booked. Theory passed McMahon’s eye test and that meant nothing but good things for the future of his career. Few people get to defeat John Cena at WrestleMania, but Theory is one of those guys. All of that came crashing to a halt when McMahon was out of the company. Everyone remembers that segment where Roman Reigns dressed Theory down on national television.
However, Theory is a guy who looks the part. He’s a good looking, young white male, which WWE covets. He can perform well in the ring, as he has a diverse moveset that has grown throughout his near decade in the ring. Theory can work, and he can work in the ring with some of the best performers in the business today.
Now, Austin Theory does not come without controversy. In 2020, Theory was one of several performers named during the Speaking Out movement. Theory was accused of sending an underage girl inappropriate messages, leading to him being removed from television. At the time, he was paired with Rollins on air and Seth addressed the situation during an interview with Sporting News.
“He had some personal issues that came up so he took some time off to sort through them for the past month or two,” Rollins said back in 2020. “It’s hard right now but we hope everything’s good for him so we hope to have him back sooner than later.”
The moment WWE attempts to push Theory, those accusations will come back up to the forefront. Unfortunately, this iteration of WWE does not seem to care about male performers who face allegations in any form, case in point Brock Lesnar’s return.
WWE needs to look to its youth to build the stars for the future. There was a point when Austin Theory could have been tagged as one of those pieces. His future in the company is questionable at best and no one truly knows if the missing man will return to television.