McMahon shortening his superstars’ names has never been anything unusual, with former WWE performers like Antonio Cesaro and Alexander Rusev losing their respective first names upon arrival to the company’s main roster (and strangely enough, both ‘A’ names, not unlike Austin Theory). What makes Theory’s name change interesting is that a reason was given on-screen for the change, rather than a simple, abrupt and often out-of-nowhere kind of change like most.
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Neither Theory nor McMahon had the most auspicious of times at WrestleMania 38, with the selfie-taker coming up short in his grudge match against SmackDown announcer Pat McAfee on Mania 38’s Night Two. While McMahon would avenge his protégé in an impromptu match against McAfee, albeit, under rather dubious circumstances, things would take a bad turn for the duo when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, fresh off his surprise in-ring return versus Kevin Owens, came out to lay waste to the cocky youngster and the septuagenarian CEO with a pair of “Stone Cold” Stunners. A little over a week removed from his and McMahon’s beat down at the hands of Austin, Theory came to WWE officials Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce to inform them that as of that night, he now goes by simply “Theory.”
The on-screen reason for this came about as McMahon apparently not seeing him “as an Austin.” Shortly afterwards, Theory would be informed that he is challenging Finn Balor for the WWE United States Championship next Monday, April 18, on RAW. The “behind-the-scenes” reason for the change seems to be that McMahon wasn’t on board with having two performers with the name “Austin,” necessitating a name change for Theory in his mind. He sees Theory as a potential John Cena-level talent and wants him to be as unique as possible.
It makes a modicum of sense, given how ingrained “The Texas Rattlesnake” is in the minds of many WWE fans, but those same fans are often smart enough to differentiate between him and a relative rookie like Theory, not to mention that the storyline with Austin has wrapped up for the most part, so the aforementioned reason for the change seems altogether moot. The company has had a bad habit over the years of unnecessarily “dumbing things down” for their viewers, something the hardcore “wrestling fan” contingent often takes offence to.
There’s always the possibility that something as simple as a name change could be a turning point for Theory in his WWE career towards a bright future, or it could be the latest in a long line of unnecessary ideas given life by McMahon, and Theory simply ends up another “flavor of the month” whose ’taste’ is lost on the aging CEO.
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Source: 411Mania, WWE
