Road Dogg Points Out WWE Star Who Is Getting Over Despite Losses

Austin Theory has had a rollercoaster month in WWE, with some of the highest highs and lowest lows of his career occurring over the span of 19 days. The former Money in the Bank briefcase holder did something unthinkable to start off November, becoming the first person to cash in on a non-major championship — and losing, a sequence of events that was viewed by many as the death of his career. At the time, it was hard to envision how the 25-year-old would survive such a defeat, but according to WWE Senior Vice President of Live Events “Road Dogg” Brian James, defeats can sometimes get people over.

“If you think about Austin Theory, working on TV a bunch, having great matches but hadn’t won any of them, I don’t think about that,” James said during the latest episode of the “Oh… You Didn’t Know” podcast. “This is where I’m going to anger more people with, is Austin Theory is putting on some, as the kids say, bangers. Don’t you get over by having great matches?”

“If wrestling is so good, profitable, and marketable, then why isn’t his ability to wrestle greatly getting him over? I would argue that it is getting him over,” James continued. “The kid is a stud athlete, good-looking, and can go. Sure he’s losing some matches. So has Seth Rollins, and so has everybody. Get mad at me, internet; his character is getting established and he’s going to put on great wrestling matches.”

Following the unsuccessful cash-in, Theory would debut a new side to his character, explaining logically why he did what he did and ending the following week’s “WWE Raw” standing tall. And at Survivor Series WarGames, Theory defeated two former world champions — Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley — to become the United States Champion for a second time.