Austin Theory Recalls Being Vince McMahon’s Protégé, Failing To Cash in His Money in the Bank Briefcase

During a recent appearance on Logan Paul’s IMPAULSIVE, Paul’s stablemate in The Vision, Austin Theory, discussed becoming Vince McMahon’s protégé earlier in his WWE run. He also discussed never being able to successfully cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, which he won at the 2022 event. Below are some highlights:

Austin Theory on Getting a Push From Vince McMahon

“So, I remember my time in NXT, and it was like kind of just I felt like I was there, you know, and then something started to work when I was in the group The Way. I just started being, you know, like, showing more of my humor and being more funny, you know, showing that. And then, I feel like that’s kind of the tip of it for me in NXT. And then when I got to the main roster, I didn’t even kind of realized like Vince was like pushing me and behind me until I remember when I won the US title, and I became the youngest US champ. But at the end of that match, Vince wanted all the heels to come out, hold me up in the ring, and then as I left the ring, he came out at the end on the stage and held my arm. And I think in that moment, I was like, whoa, like something’s going on here. Like we’re going places, you know? But um yeah, I feel like I always knew like I would I would do great things here, but just not the detail of them, you know? I mean, it’s been a crazy ride, you know.”

On How That Period Was for His Career

“But I guess like anything in life, you know, you have the ups and the downs. And I really feel like kind of coming down a little bit and just kind of reflecting and figuring out like where can I be better? What could I do? Okay, maybe I need to switch the character, and I need to do something else. A and just I think that’s just always a thing you’re trying to, you know, be fresher on because we’re on TV every week. So, it’s like trying to give somebody something different all the time, but yeah, that was — just that time period specifically. I believe that was between the end of 2021 and then 2023. But crazy.”

On If He Feels He Got Robbed by Never Cashing in His Money in the Bank Briefcase

“Yes. Yes. I will say like it, I’m going to go and run the play always, you know, if we really need it to be this way. I think for me, I just felt like, you know, even with the moment I had with Roman [Reigns], I believe it was at maybe Barclays Center, and he hit me with the ‘Your daddy’s not here anymore.’ In that moment, I wanted to say the same thing to him, you know, cuz in a way, it’s like he was a Vince guy as well, you know. Not in a way, he was, but I felt like, yeah, I just there could have been a moment I knew like, we I wasn’t going to get the title off Roman, but even just building it to seem like, oh, here we go. And then, you know, I could lose to him, whatever, you know, but like just give it more of a payoff cuz it felt cool, man. Like, I did a lot of cool things with it, and I still think it’s funny how, like, I have it in my office hanging, and it’s real dented, and I love when people see it, and they’re like, ‘Bro, you murdered people with that, huh?’ I’m like, ‘No, Brock Lesnar murdered me with it, and it sucked.’ Crazy.”

Theory would ultimately cash in his briefcase on WWE Raw on November 7, 2022, using it to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE US Title. However, Rollins won the match and managed to retain his belt after an attack by Bobby Lashley.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit IMPAULSIVE with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.