Austin Theory's WWE Aspirations Started Back When He Was 8 Years Old

Austin Theory is still early into his WWE career, with his first "NXT" appearance occurring in December 2019. But by the time he had signed a contract with the world's largest professional wrestling organization, he was a well-known figure in the realms of independent wrestling and bodybuilding (per The Ringer). He is a former Heavyweight Champion with promotions like Full Impact Pro and Evolve. He even competed in the main event of a crossover show where the latter company and "NXT" joined forces for one night prior to WWE buying out the organization. That said, the signs of Theory's greatness were also apparent early on in his life, most notably during his teenage years when he began competing in bodybuilding competitions.

At the age of 17, Theory earned himself a sculpted metal trophy for the "Overall Winner" category at the 2015 NPC Georgia Bodybuilding Championships' Teen Men competition. He managed to capture the top spot in his division and then competed against the other three finalists to earn recognition as the best of the best that year. Shockingly enough, it was the former Mr. Money in the Bank's first official competition in bodybuilding. 

In an interview with Henry Herald following his win, Theory detailed how extreme he made his diet to reach the peak physical shape he wanted for the competition. "We ate 10 meals of tilapia a day," Theory mentioned. He also cut off water consumption 48 hours before the competition to increase how defined and veiny his muscles appeared.

Of course, Theory's physique and discipline ultimately helped him in his pursuit of a WWE contract.  In the aforementioned interview following his victory at the Bodybuilding Championships, he explained that he would no longer put additional focus into bodybuilding and instead was going to become a WWE Superstar.

Theory would eventually train at the WWA4 wrestling school in Atlanta, GA, but growing up in the area, he was exposed to the indie wrestling scene early on in his life. Former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston of The New Day remembers Theory as a young kid, attending Deep South Wrestling shows to become familiar with the up-and-comers in the industry. "Theory's from Atlanta, so he would come to the Deep South shows. So he would come and watch us, you know, try and make it to the main roster so he has pictures with a lot of people on the Deep South roster who used to hang around," Kingston told WrestleRant on behalf of Bleacher Report. It's also well documented how dedicated of a John Cena fan Theory was while he was watching the product over the years.

"Watching him as I was growing up, the whole "Never give up" [slogan.] As cheesy as people may think that sounds, that mentality, that never-give-up mentality is what really helped me through my life and really got me to this point," Theory told The New York Post earlier this year.

Theory has since made his dream of being a pro wrestler a reality. Before Vince McMahon retired as CEO of WWE, Theory was in a prime position backstage. Reports indicated McMahon saw exceptional things in the future for Theory and was going to invest in his potential. This was proven true by his quick rise to the United States Championship and his capturing of The Money in the Bank briefcase earlier this year. 

Theory was also involved in one of the most memorable segments at this year's WrestleMania when he lost to Pat McAfee with McMahon watching at ringside. This prompted an unexpected match to take place – Vince vs. McAfee, and with Theory's help, the seventy-seven-year-old picked up the win. But before all was said and done, WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin made an unexpected appearance to send Theory and McMahon off with a couple of stunners. Since the power regime changed in WWE, Theory has suffered some tragic losses, like when he unsuccessfully cashed in his MITB briefcase on Seth Rollins, but his new vindictive, motivated character shift hints the best may be yet to come for Theory after regaining the U.S. title from Rollins at Survivor Series: WarGames.