Seth Rollins issued a United States Championship "Open Challenge" at the end of last night's RAW after earlier being challenged by Finn Balor (who was interrupted by The Club). Mustafa Ali initially responded, only to be attacked backstage by former champion Bobby Lashley.
He hit the ring and laid waste to Rollins before the bell could even ring. It's clear the All Mighty is a heel now, and he left...only for Austin Theory to make his way out.
After several failed attempts to defeat Roman Reigns for his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Rollins instead, challenging for the United States title! He attempted to pin the champion on multiple occasions, only for Rollins to repeatedly kick out.
Just as it looked like Theory might pick up the 1-2-3, Lashley pulled him out of the ring, beat the stuffing out of him, and threw him back into Rollins. With that, Vince McMahon's handpicked protege was pinned, meaning he failed to cash in!
It was clear Vince planned to push Theory to the moon, but since he left and Triple H took over, we've seen the selfie-taking Superstar lose a lot. To try and fail to cash in not only takes him out of world championship contention but also suggests WWE no longer has any major plans for Theory above the mid-card.
Are they trying to humble him? Is this just a sign that WWE has given up on Theory as the next big thing? Who knows, but this was definitely a shocking development on RAW...
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