Austin Theory picked up a career defining win over returning legend at WrestleMania 39.
The United States Champion retained his prize in the opening match of this weekend’s doubleheader in Hollywood, although he needed to cheat to do it.
The wrestler turned Hollywood star had made an emotional entrance joined by children , sharing the stage with the brave group before racing it down the huge ramp.
However, it wasn’t to be as Theory took advantage of the referee being knocked down, first by tapping out to the STF (unseen by the official) and then hitting a low blow before the A-Town Down secured the victory.
The 16-time world champion has five WrestleMania main events to his name and is regarded as one of the absolute best of all time, while Saturday night’s match marked his first time starting a WrestleMania since his first ever appearance at the Show of Shows way back in 2002.
The iconic wrestler returned on Monday Night Raw earlier last month to an incredible ovation from a loyal Boston crowd, only to be immediately interrupted by .
The titleholder challenged the iconic wrestler to a high stakes match in Hollywood, but before it got accepted, he was verbally eviscerated by one of the best of all time.
Cena insisted the rising star wasn’t ready for this level of match, branding him a wannabe and exposing his perceived shortcomings to the world.
Theory did fight back, poking fun at the 45-year-old star’s bald spot, which led to him quipping: ‘I would so much rather be bald than have them pipe in fake crowd noises for my matches because nobody cares.’
His rival, who is the youngest ever United States Champion in WWE history, then accused Cena of giving up and turning his back on the fans.
This seemed to strike a chord, as Cena responded: ‘I may not care about you, but I’ll never give up on them. Remember this moment, you just made the biggest mistake of your life. At WrestleMania, for the United States Championship, it’s going to be Austin Theory versus John Cena.’
WrestleMania 39 airs live at 1am on April 1 and 2 via the WWE Network.
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