After a brief stint on Monday Night Raw where he was part of two separate heel stables, Austin Theory was sent back to NXT following allegations that emerged amid the rise of the #SpeakingOut movement. However, it appears that WWE officials have been planning for some time to bring him back to the main roster.
As quoted by Ringside News on Thursday, Dave Meltzer revealed on the most recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that the company has long had plans to push Theory because of his physical attributes. Now, it appears that officials are “grooming” the Atlanta native for a return to the main roster after his productive run on NXT, where he became a member of The Way — the villainous faction led by the husband-and-wife team of Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.
“it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to send him back down and in the end, it’s [a] great experience to work with Johnny Gargano who’s such a great worker, but yearh They’re definitely, you can really see they’re grooming him to get out of there.”
During his stint on Raw last year, Theory was initially included in a stable with Zelina Vega and Andrade. He then joined forces with Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy as he continued working as a heel in the weeks that followed. However, he was quietly transferred back to NXT shortly after it was revealed that he allegedly sent inappropriate text messages to a 13-year-old girl in 2018, according to Wrestling News .
In an August interview, Rollins seemed to allude to Theory’s situation, suggesting that he had some “personal issues” that required him to go on hiatus and “sort through them for the past month or two.” He did, however, add that he hoped to see the 23-year-old eventually rejoin his faction.
As of now, it’s still unclear whether Theory will be assigned to Raw or Friday Night SmackDown if he gets called back up. However, Ringside News expressed hope that he would be more than a mere “sidekick,” much like he was when he was aligned with Vega and Rollins. As pointed out, NXT storylines have shown him “learning” from the more experienced Gargano since he joined The Way late last year.
If Theory does come back to the main roster as rumored, he won’t be the first wrestler to get called up from NXT this year. Just one day after competing in the men’s battle royal at the Royal Rumble , Damian Priest officially debuted on the red brand on Monday, where he defeated The Miz in singles action, as noted by Bleacher Report .
