Austin Theory Claims Segment with The Rock Was Finalized at the Last Minute

Austin Theory is quickly becoming one of WWE’s rising stars. Last year, he had a memorable segment with The Rock and now it appears Theory has confirmed his segment with The Great One was finalized at the last moment.

During the September 15, 2023 episode of SmackDown, Austin Theory confronted Pat McAfee. It was then followed by The Rock returning after almost four years and immediately shutting down Theory on the microphone. The Rock then hit his signature spinebuster and People’s Elbow on Theory for good measure.

While speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the former United States Champion talked about how his segment with The Rock was put together at the last minute. Theory revealed that he got a call just an hour before the show and went to Triple H’s office. Triple H told him the plan: he would go out, talk to Pat McAfee, and then The Rock would come out.

The head writer told him there wasn’t much time left to prepare—about 30 to 40 minutes. He was told to figure out what to say to Pat McAfee, and they would sort out what to do with The Rock when he arrived. At that moment, he realized The Rock hadn’t even gotten there yet, and everything felt a bit crazy.

“We had an hour before the show, I get a call, and I end up going to Triple H’s office. He basically gives me the rundown of, ‘Hey, Pat McAfee’s coming back. We’re thinking, you go out there, you cut a promo, and then kind of get on him, and then we’ll have The Rock come out.’ I’m just like, ‘For real? Alright!’ So then they’re sitting there, and then the head writer, he’s like, ‘Hey, there’s not a lot of time left now.’ There’s like 40 minutes, 30 minutes left. He’s like, ‘Just go figure out what you want to say to Pat and then we’ll figure out the rest. We’ll tell you what you’re doing with Rock when he gets here.’ So I’m like, ‘Well, he’s not even here, this is crazy.’

Austin Theory also issued a challenge to The Rock as he made it clear he wanted a piece of The Great One. It remains to be seen if Theory and The Great One will cross paths again in the future, as Theory has clearly changed a lot since their last interaction.

Do you believe The Rock and Austin Theory should have another interaction in the future? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!