Austin Theory Comes Up With Creative Out After RKO Botch On SmackDown

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  Austin Theory

  Birthdate:

  1997-08-02

  Birthname:

  Austin Tyler White

  Birthplace:

  McDonough, Georgia

  Notable Allies:

  Johnny Gargano

  Notable Rivals:

  John Cena

  Current Promotion:

  WWE

  Height:

  6'1"

  Weight:

  220 lbs

  Championships Held:

  United States Championship

  Finisher:

  A-Town Down

  Twitter:

  Instagram:

  Eye Color:

  Blue

  Hair Color:

  Brown

Highlights

• Theory owning his botched move shows respect to fans, who should appreciate the effort he and Waller put in.
• It was definitely a bold idea to try and jump over an RKO, but at least he's being honest and facing it head-on.
• While the move was awkward, Theory's explanation fits his character and adds depth to the storyline.

Austin Theory has been taking some heat on social media over the past 24 hours after a spot he tried to pull off on SmackDown went wrong. While in the ring with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens, Theory was supposed to take a Stunner and transition into an RKO. Unfortunately, as he set himself up for the RKO, it was clear he was visibly jumping, ruining the move, and making it look extremely fake.

It was a mistake, but fans have been unreasonably unfair about it on the Internet. Some suggest he's the worst wrestler in the world, it wasn't nearly that bad. However, Theory was aware that it looked goofy, so he and Grayson Waller worked their creative magic in a quick WWE exclusive video to find a way around it. Video footage caught Theory and Waller talking about the moment. Waller asked, "What happened?" to which Theory responded, "What do you mean what happened? You mean the Stunner... I was dizzy, but then the RKO. I keep getting hit with these RKOs, so what did I think? Maybe I was a little dizzy, but I thought I could just jump over it after the Stunner, but that didn't work out." Waller called it a good idea and Theory said, "But it didn't work, man!"

You can see the video below:

This was a wise move by Theory and Waller to explain their way around an in-ring error. It won't necessarily make up for how odd the sequence looked, but at least the two performers are addressing it and not pretending the series of moves never happened or wasn't awkward. And, it's kind of in line with Theory's character. He believes he's so athletically gifted he could just jump over an RKO.

Austin Theory Full Bio

Fans Should Appreciate The Effort Here

If Theory had pulled off the move, it would have looked incredible. Because he didn't, he's taking heat for it online. Still, fans should be grateful that he's not just ignoring the moment. He's working it into his character and trying to justify why Theory would have done something so ridiculous like jump into one of the most devastating moves in WWE. At least he's not insulting the audience's intelligence.