Austin Theory reflects on his near miss that could have been a lot worse.
On the January 12th episode of SmackDown, the former United States Champion faced off against Carmelo Hayes. With both men showing off their athletic abilities, the match had to be brought to a sudden end due to safety concerns. Attempting a top rope Spanish Fly, both men would land head first and get spiked on the mat. Realising something was wrong, the referee immediately called an end to the match and rendered it a no-contest.
Speaking with The West Sport, Austin Theory looked back on the scary spot and admitted that the top rope Spanish Fly has since been retired out of safety concerns:
“Well, all jokes aside, when it comes to inside that ring and what we do, the risk level is extremely high. It doesn’t matter how many times you wanna practice or go through the routine of a move, it’s real life, there’s danger with that. It’s two human bodies doing superhuman-like things. In this scenario with Carmelo Hayes, I’m going for a move I’ve did plenty of times, it just so happens as we’re going through the rotation, the back of his foot hits the top rope.
So, all of the momentum of us rotating, when his foot hits, it takes us straight down. Just based off of the video, it looks insane. To be honest, after that, I seriously could’ve been paralyzed or my career could’ve been done. I could have been seriously hurt, broke my neck, there’s so many factors, but luckily as we came down, I let go to catch myself and I turn my head all the way to the left and when we landed, the back of his head hit my face pretty hard.
But when we were laying there, I was fine, I didn’t feel rocked or lost or that feeling of, oh, what’s going on? I felt fine. But at the same time too, that’s such a scary moment, especially when you’re out there and something goes wrong and doesn’t feel right. Seeing the video footage back of myself upside down literally on the top of my head, wow. Very grateful for that and that move is retired for Austin Theory,”
Austin Theory Irate After Interview
After the interview came to a close, a clip featuring the former WWE Money in the Bank winner would go viral on the internet. Much like his close friend Grayson Waller, Austin Theory threatened to punch a member of the Australian media who called wrestling fake.
H/t to Fightful.