Austin Theory has had quite the year in 2022. He won his first United States Championship back in April when he defeated Finn Balor only to lose the title to Bobby Lashley at Money in the Bank. However, his luck would turn when he was entered as a surprise eighth member in the men’s Money in the Bank match later that night at the behest of Vince McMahon, who took a special interest in the star after he stole the then-Chairman’s Cleopatra’s Egg at the 2021 Survivor Series. Theory was ultimately victorious in becoming Mr. Money in the Bank.
After a number of thwarted attempts to cash in his contract on Roman Reigns and a brief tease that he might go after Bron Breakker’s NXT Championship, Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank contract in an attempt to win the United States Championship from Seth Rollins on the November 7th episode of WWE Raw after Rollins had been beaten down by Bobby Lashley. However, Lashley also attacked Theory mid-match, and Rollins was able to retain.
Not content to give up on regaining the United States Championship, however, Austin Theory faced both Lashley and Rollins at WWE Survivor Series, where he pinned Rollins to become a two time champion.
Austin Theory Shared A Ten Year Old Photo To Highlight His Personal Improvement
Celebrating his accomplishments, Austin Theory took to social media to post a comparison between a photo of himself from 2012 and a photo taken recently, showing that the star has undergone a phenomenal physical transformation, adding plenty of muscle and definition.
Where it started
2012 to 2022
Enjoy the Process 🚀 pic.twitter.com/k3eF1HNa6S— Austin Theory (@_Theory1) November 24, 2022
The caption Theory chose to highlight his accomplishments spoke about enjoying the process, which is sure to feature both ups and downs along the way. In a recent interview with BT Sport, the star spoke about the experience of having a failed Money in the Bank cash-in, but he seemed to take the situation in stride, knowing that better things would be ahead.
“Growing up watching the Money in the Bank matches were exciting and the cash-ins were exciting but I have to say, I never thought I’d have the failed cash-in but I guess I would be one of those guys but I would say for me, that whole process of that day of losing the Money in the Bank contract and kind of, where do I go now?
I literally hit rock bottom, so what now? And kind of just to have this revamp of a personality and bring out this different type of energy that people aren’t used to from Austin Theory, it kind of just shifts everything and for me, it’s great and looking at it long term, it can only evolve and get better from here.” (h/t POST Wrestling)