Kemo
03-11-2022, 09:55 PM
Austin Theory will battle SmackDown announcer Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38. It should be an entertaining match, but it’s not what WWE originally had planned.
At one point, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was rumored to be competing against McAfee at the company’s biggest show of the year.
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When McMahon was announced as a guest on the Pat McAfee’s Show, it seemed this would be the forum to set up the special attraction. McMahon offered McAfee a chance to compete at WrestleMania, which he accepted. On a subsequent episode of WWE SmackDown, Austin Theory revealed himself to be McAfee’s opponent.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer shed some light on how McAfee vs. Theory came to be and what the original plan was for Vince McMahon’s involvement.
“Obviously, from the 2/28 Raw, where Theory talked about McAfee perhaps attacking Vince McMahon and he’ll be there to help McMahon if that happened him on the 3/3 episode of McAfee’s show,” wrote Meltzer. “Then nothing at all transpired and Theory wasn’t even there, indicating a major change in plans.”
WWE sources confirmed there was a significant change from the original plans. While Vince McMahon won’t be wrestling, he’s still slated to be a big part of the match and will help get heat on Austin Theory.
Meltzer added, “What appears to be the idea is that there will be an angle to get McMahon into the match, likely overseeing the match and being at ringside rather than it being a handicap match, although that has been talked of as well.”
Had the Vince McMahon vs. Pat McAfee match taken place, Austin theory would have been heavily involved and taking all the bumps on McMahon’s behalf.
It’s speculative, but perhaps McMahon soured on the idea because he did not feel it was right to advertise himself in a match while ‘outsourcing’ his bumps to Austin Theory.
WrestleMania 38 takes place over two nights on Saturday, April 2nd and Sunday, April 3rd from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
At one point, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was rumored to be competing against McAfee at the company’s biggest show of the year.
1497710825473073154
When McMahon was announced as a guest on the Pat McAfee’s Show, it seemed this would be the forum to set up the special attraction. McMahon offered McAfee a chance to compete at WrestleMania, which he accepted. On a subsequent episode of WWE SmackDown, Austin Theory revealed himself to be McAfee’s opponent.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer shed some light on how McAfee vs. Theory came to be and what the original plan was for Vince McMahon’s involvement.
“Obviously, from the 2/28 Raw, where Theory talked about McAfee perhaps attacking Vince McMahon and he’ll be there to help McMahon if that happened him on the 3/3 episode of McAfee’s show,” wrote Meltzer. “Then nothing at all transpired and Theory wasn’t even there, indicating a major change in plans.”
WWE sources confirmed there was a significant change from the original plans. While Vince McMahon won’t be wrestling, he’s still slated to be a big part of the match and will help get heat on Austin Theory.
Meltzer added, “What appears to be the idea is that there will be an angle to get McMahon into the match, likely overseeing the match and being at ringside rather than it being a handicap match, although that has been talked of as well.”
Had the Vince McMahon vs. Pat McAfee match taken place, Austin theory would have been heavily involved and taking all the bumps on McMahon’s behalf.
It’s speculative, but perhaps McMahon soured on the idea because he did not feel it was right to advertise himself in a match while ‘outsourcing’ his bumps to Austin Theory.
WrestleMania 38 takes place over two nights on Saturday, April 2nd and Sunday, April 3rd from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.