Austin Theory On His Match With Tommaso Ciampa On Tonight’s NXT, Reaction to Being Signed By WWE

Austin Theory spoke with PWInsider for a new interview discussing his match with Tommaso Ciampa on tonight’s NXT and his signing with WWE last summer. Theory is facing Ciampa on tonight’s show after Ciampa interrupted his segment last week and they ended up brawling, which saw Ciampa come out ahead. Highlights are below:

On his altercation with Ciampa and match this week: “Not only just my thoughts but a lot of people’s thoughts are that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’d have to totally disagree on that. I think I was in the right place at the right time. The reason being is because Tommaso Ciampa is not just any ordinary guy. He’s at the top of NXT and why not go out of my way and start something with him. Even though a lot of people say like, “Oh, what a beating that was.” I mean, look where it’s led me to this Wednesday, going one on one with Tommaso Ciampa.”

On getting an opportunity to make his mark on NXT: “I see myself bringing a different side of Austin Theory tomorrow. I feel like I do like to show off and show off my athleticism and stuff like that, but my mindset going into this is I just want to show a different side of me. I’m not looking at this is just a match. I’m looking at it as a fight. Tommaso Ciampa, he wanted to make an example of me and you don’t make an example of the future like that. So he’s going to get an Austin Theory that nobody has ever seen and especially the NXT Universe hasn’t seen.”

On the pressure of stepping into WWE and developing at the Performance Center: “Like you said, Being a fan my entire life of the WWE and always wanting to be here [was the goal]. Finally, when you’re done with that independent circuit and you make it to the WWE, it’s a lot of pressure, but I’m glad that a lot of the situations that I’ve been in even coming up on the independents, they’ve always put me in high stakes situations. It kind of prepared me for this. When I got here, I felt pressure, but I definitely felt comfortable at the same time. I get very excited when I know there’s a big mountain to climb and I know in my own mind that I will climb that mountain. So it just excites me. Being here, it’s a dream come true. I know a lot of people say that, but it truly is for me. I just know that there’s so much that I want to do here and there’s so much that I will do here.”

On his reaction to being offered a WWE contract: “My whole mindset has always been, even as it goes just in life, people obviously believe in you fully when they actually see it happen. I had a lot of doubt on the way to saying that I wanted to be in the WWE. Obviously as it’s happened, there had been more people that have wanted to support me on that. But actually knowing to myself that I will be here and I was always going to be here. I always knew it, but it’s just crazy when you actually get it and it’s like, wow, what I said and what I stuck to and just my dedication and my passion for it, it’s gotten me here and it’s right in front of me. It’s just the American dream, man. It’s so surreal.”

On what he wants fans to get out of his match with Ciampa: “The biggest takeaway is people are undoubtedly going to know exactly what the future holds for NXT, and they’re going to see exactly why everything that everybody says about me, like you said, about the one day being a WWE champion, one day main event WrestleMania. Tomorrow you’re going to see exactly why that’s true. I’m going to bring it. I’m going to show each and every person in the entire NXT universe why Austin Theory can go all day.”

On who his dream opponent for NXT Takeover: Tampa would be: “I mean I feel like a lot of people would say it’s a match that involves championship gold because that’s always good and that’s always a fun WrestleMania weekend. But honestly I don’t think I have a specific person in mind. I think right now, man, it’s so hard to look at that because I like to put my all into what’s right now and right now it’s Tommaso Ciampa. So if you ask me about WrestleMania weekend, I would just say Tommaso Ciampa just because I can’t wait to get my hands on him since last week.”