Austin Theory

Austin White (born August 2, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Austin Theory.

Austin Theory
Theory in July 2018
Birth nameAustin White[1][2]
Born (1997-08-02) August 2, 1997
Atlanta, Georgia, United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Austin Theory
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2]
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg)[2]
Billed fromMcDonough, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Trained byAR Fox[3]
DebutMay 2016[2]

Prior to WWE, he wrestled on the independent circuit, including several promotions under the World Wrestling Network umbrella, such as Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Evolve – along the way winning the WWN Championship, FIP World Heavyweight Championship and the Evolve Championship.

Early life

Austin White was born on August 2, 1997 in the Atlanta suburb of McDonough, Georgia. In 2015, he placed first in the NPC Georgia Bodybuilding Championship, Teen Men category when he was 17.[1][4]

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2016–2019)

On May 5, 2016, he made his professional wrestling debut under the ring name Austin Theory, defeating AR Fox at a WWA4 event to win the WWA4 Heavyweight Championship.[5] Theory made his Progress Wrestling debut on April 1, 2017 at a Progress and Evolve joint show, where he lost to Keith Lee in a four way match, that also involving Jason Kincaid and Blaster McMassive.[6] On August 12, Theory lost to Mark Haskins in a four way match, that also involving Mark Andrews and Keith Lee.[7] At Chapter 67, Theory teamed with Jinny to defeat Will Ospreay and Kay Lee Ray.[8]

World Wrestling Network affiliates (2016–2019)

On August 12, 2016, Theory made his World Wrestling Network debut at Full Impact Pro (FIP)'s Heatstroke, alongside AC Mack.[9] On January 7, 2017, at Style Battle, Theory was defeated by AR Fox.[10] At FIP Everything Burns, Theory defeated Anthony Henry.[11] Theory made his Evolve debut at Evolve 78, defeating Darby Allin.[12][13][14] At Evolve 79, Theory lost a four-way match to Chris Dickinson.[15] At Evolve 80, he lost to Ethan Page.[16] At Evolve 84, he was defeated by Lio Rush.[17] At Evolve 88, he defeated Ethan Case.[18] The next night at Evolve 89, he defeated Trent Beretta.[19]

At Evolve 97, Theory defeated Fred Yehi to win the FIP World Heavyweight Championship.[20] At FIP Everything Burns, Theory retained his title against Martin Stone.[21] At Evolve 100, Theory failed to win the Evolve Championship against Zack Sabre Jr.[22] At Evolve 103, Theory defeated Keith Lee to win the WWN Championship, ending Lee's 175 day reign.[23][24][25] At Evolve 106, Theory lost the WWN Championship to Joey Janela.[26] On September 30 at Accelerate, he lost the FIP World Heavyweight Championship to Anthony Henry.[27] At Evolve 117, Theory defeated Fabian Aichner and Roderick Strong to win the Evolve Championship.[28] At Evolve 139 on November 9, 2019, he lost the Evolve Championship to Josh Briggs.[29]

The Crash and other Mexican promotions (2018–2019)

On June 16, 2018, Theory made his The Crash Lucha Libre debut by losing to Rey Horus.[30] On March 2, 2019, Theory defeated Willie Mack, Bárbaro Cavernario and Sansón to win The Crash Heavyweight Championship.[31] On June 14, Theory made his CMLL debut representing The Crash, teaming with Carístico and Volador Jr. to defeat Rush and La Peste Negra (Bárbaro Cavernario and Negro Casas).[32]

Initial appearances (2019–2020)

Prior to his signing with the company, he participated in a WWE tryout in February 2018.[1] On April 8, during day 4 of WrestleMania Axxess, Theory retained his WWN Championship by defeating Marcel Barthel.[33]

On August 15, 2019, it was announced that he had signed a contract with WWE, and would start reporting to the WWE Performance Center.[34] On the December 25 episode of NXT, Theory made his in-ring debut, accepting an open challenge against Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship, but failed to win the title.[35] On the January 8, 2020 episode of NXT, Theory achieved his first victory by defeating Joaquin Wilde.[36]

Theory appeared on the March 30 episode of Raw as an associate of Zelina Vega, teaming with Angel Garza and Seth Rollins, where they were defeated by Kevin Owens and Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford).[37][38] At WrestleMania 36, Theory teamed with Garza to unsuccessfully challenge The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team Championship.[39][40] The following night on Raw, Theory and Garza were once again defeated by The Street Profits in a rematch for the titles.[41] After defeating Akira Tozawa on the April 13 episode of Raw, Vega's other associates, Garza and Andrade joined him in beating down Tozawa as all three posed together, confirming their status as a faction.[42] However, on the May 18 episode of Raw, he was attacked by Andrade and Garza after accidentally costing them a tag team match against Apollo Crews and Kevin Owens, thus kicking him out of the faction.[43]

Later that same night, he assisted Seth Rollins and Murphy in attacking Aleister Black, formally joining Rollins' group as a disciple.[44] However, following the June 22 episode of Raw, he stopped appearing with Rollins and Murphy. This was due to allegations towards White during the Speaking Out movement.[45] Those allegations proved to be false as tweets proving the alleged victim lied about her age, to many individuals.[46][47]

The Way (2020–present)

On the August 26 episode of NXT, Theory returned to television by interrupting Bronson Reed, moving back to the brand.[48][49] He then made his in-ring return on the September 8 episode of NXT, losing to Reed. Following this, Theory would spend most of his time in NXT as an enhancement talent, often losing his matches to the likes of Kushida, Dexter Lumis, and others. Theory would reveal himself as the newest member of the Gargano family at NXT TakeOver: War Games by helping Johnny Gargano win the NXT North American Championship for a record setting third time. He then appeared on the December 9 episode to reveal he was part of a villainous faction called The Way with Gargano, his wife Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell.

Championships and accomplishments

Bodybuilding

Professional wrestling
Theory as FIP World Heavyweight Champion

References
  1. Clapp, John (9 February 2018). "Independent wrestling standout Austin Theory, former UFC fighter Matt Van Buren among prospects at WWE tryout". WWE. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  2. "Austin Theory". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  3. https://lastwordonprowrestling.com/2019/08/14/wwe-september-2019-class/
  4. Torres, Maria (16 July 2015). "Mr. Teenage Georgia: Local teens bring home bodybuilding, physique titles". Henry Daily Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  5. "WWA4". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  6. "WWNLive SuperShow - Mercury Rising 2017: Evolve vs. Progress". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  7. "Progress New York City". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  8. "Progress Chapter 67: Bourbon Is Also A Biscuit". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  9. "FIP Heatstroke 2016". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  10. "Style Battle #01.01". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  11. "FIP Everything Burns 2017". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  12. Pantoja, Kevin (25 February 2017). "Kevin's Evolve 78 Review". 411Mania. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  13. "Evolve 78". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  14. Csonka, Larry (24 February 2017). "Csonka's Evolve 78 Review 2.24.17". 411Mania. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  15. "Evolve 79". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  16. "Evolve 80". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  17. "EVOLVE 84". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  18. "Evolve 88". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  19. "Evolve 89". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  20. "Evolve 97". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  21. "FIP Everything Burns 2018". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  22. "Evolve 100". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  23. Fannin, Pat (6 April 2018). "Austin Theory Is The New WWN Champion; Competing At WrestleMania Axxess". Fightful. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  24. Greer, Jamie. "#AndNEW: Austin Theory Beats Keith Lee for WWN Championship". lastwordonprowrestling. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  25. "Evolve 103". Cagematch. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
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  41. "Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits def. Angel Garza & Austin Theory via Disqualification". WWE. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  42. Powell, Jason (13 April 2020). "4/13 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Drew McIntyre and Becky Lynch appearances, Money in the Bank qualifying matches featuring Asuka vs. Ruby Riott, Kairi Sane vs. Nia Jax, and Sarah Logan vs. Shayna Baszler". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
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  47. Insider, Wrestling. "Tweet 2".
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