Austin Tyler White (born August 2, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. , he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Austin Theory. He is a member of The Vision stable and is one-half of the reigning World Tag Team Champions with stablemate Bron Breakker in their second reign.
Prior to joining WWE, he competed on the independent circuit, including several promotions under the World Wrestling Network (WWN) umbrella, such as Full Impact Pro (FIP) and Evolve – along the way winning the WWN Championship, FIP World Heavyweight Championship, and the Evolve Championship. He also wrestled in Mexico for The Crash Lucha Libre, where he is a former The Crash Heavyweight Champion, and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
Theory signed with WWE in 2019, where he was assigned to NXT and was part of The Way stable. After being called up to the main roster, he received a push, becoming WWE United States Champion and the winner of the 2022 Money in the Bank ladder match. He was the first wrestler to cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase for a secondary title. Since 2023, Theory began to wrestle as a tag team wrestler, first with Grayson Waller as A-Town Down Under, winning the WWE Tag Team Champions at WrestleMania and later as part of The Vision stable, winning the World Tag Team Championship twice.
Early life Austin Tyler White was born on August 2, 1997, in the Atlanta suburb of McDonough, Georgia. His parents were divorced prior to his birth. White has been a fan of professional wrestling since childhood, citing John Cena as a huge influence and having dreams of joining WWE since he was eight years old. In 2015, at the age of 17, he placed first in the NPC Georgia Bodybuilding Championship, Teen Men category. According to White, he only competed in bodybuilding as a strategy to get noticed by WWE scouts after a friend told him they attended bodybuilding shows.
Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2016–2019)
He made his professional wrestling debut for Glory Pro Wrestling (GPW) on April 29, 2016, under the ring name Austin Theory, losing to Mike Cobb in a three-way match also involving Poncho Arp. On May 5, he defeated AR Fox to win the WWA4 Heavyweight Championship, his first professional wrestling championship. On August 12, Theory made his World Wrestling Network (WWN) debut at Full Impact Pro (FIP)'s Heatstroke event.
Theory signed with Evolve In January 2017 and made his debut at Evolve 78 on February 24, defeating Darby Allin. In May, Theory acquired a valet, Priscilla Kelly, who helped him win his matches. On December 10, at Evolve 97, he defeated Fred Yehi to win the FIP World Heavyweight Championship. On February 17, 2018, at Evolve 100, Theory unsuccessfully challenged Zack Sabre Jr. for the Evolve Championship. At Evolve 103 on April 6, Theory defeated Keith Lee to win the WWN Championship, becoming a double champion. At Evolve 106 on June 23, Theory lost the WWN Championship to Joey Janela, but retained the FIP World Heavyweight Championship against Janela and DJ Z in a triple threat match the next day. He lost the title to Anthony Henry on September 30 at FIP's Accelerate event. On October 28, at Evolve 114, he was involved in a six-way ladder match for the vacant WWN Championship, which was won by JD Drake.
At Evolve 117 on December 15, Theory defeated Fabian Aichner and Roderick Strong in a triple threat match to win the Evolve Championship; he fired Kelly as his valet following the match. Throughout 2019, Theory successfully defended the title against the likes of Henry, Kyle O'Reilly, Raul Mendoza, and Leon Ruff. Following a backstage confrontation between Theory and JD Drake, a Winner Takes All match for both the Evolve Championship and WWN Championship was set for Evolve 131 on July 13, which was won by Theory. After the match, he was chokeslammed by Josh Briggs. On August 25, at Evolve 134, he retained the Evolve Championship against Drake and Briggs in a triple threat match. He lost the title to Briggs at Evolve 139 on November 9. Theory subsequently left Evolve after facing Curt Stallion the following night.
Mexico (2018–2019) On June 16, 2018, Theory made his debut for Mexican promotion The Crash Lucha Libre, losing to Rey Horus. He wrestled at The Crash VII Aniversario on November 3, losing to Mr. 450 in a four-way match also involving Horus and Shane Strickland. On March 2, 2019, Theory defeated Willie Mack, Bárbaro Cavernario and Sansón to win The Crash Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title on May 4 to Horus in a four-way match also involving Adam Brooks and MJF. On June 14, Theory, representing The Crash, appeared for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) on Super Viernes ("Super Fridays"), teaming with Carístico and Volador Jr. to defeat Rush and La Peste Negra ("The Black Plague"; Cavernario and Negro Casas). The next day, he wrestled his last match in Mexico at the time, defeating El Mesías.
WWE NXT (2019–2021) In February 2018, Theory participated in a WWE and wrestled on April 8, during day 4 of WrestleMania Axxess, where he retained the WWN Championship against Marcel Barthel. On August 10, 2019, Theory was shown on-screen in the crowd at NXT TakeOver: Toronto and his signing was announced five days later, being reported to the WWE Performance Center. He debuted on the December 25 episode of NXT, wrestling Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship.
He also appeared on the main roster, wrestling for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) with Ángel Garza on Night 2 of WrestleMania 36 on April 5 and the following night on Raw, but lost both matches. He was paired with Seth Rollins and Murphy, but after the June 22 episode of Raw, he stopped appearing with them.
On August 26, Theory returned to NXT, interrupting Bronson Reed, whom he lost to at NXT: Super Tuesday II on September 8. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames on December 6, Theory helped Johnny Gargano win his third NXT North American Championship. He then appeared on the December 9 episode of NXT to reveal he was part of a villainous faction called The Way with Gargano, Gargano's real life wife Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell. In January 2021, Theory and Gargano lost to Kushida and Leon Ruff in the first round of the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Following a loss to Kyle O'Reilly on the July 20 episode of NXT, Theory took an absence from NXT television, until he returned on September 14 during the premiere of NXT 2.0, attending the wedding of Hartwell and Dexter Lumis in his final NXT appearance.
Mr. Money in the Bank (2021–2022)
As part of the 2021 Draft, Theory was drafted to the Raw brand. On the October 4 episode of Raw, Theory returned to the brand by attacking Jeff Hardy and defeated him on the next two episodes of Raw. At the same time, he received a new gimmick where he began taking selfies of himself and opponents, even during matches. After Rey Mysterio was injured by Bobby Lashley on the November 15 episode of Raw, he was removed from Team Raw for Survivor Series and replaced by Theory. At the event on November 21, Theory eliminated Sheamus before he was eliminated by Hardy, but his team won the match against Team SmackDown. The next night on Raw, it was revealed that Theory took Cleopatra's Egg from Mr. McMahon, who then rewarded Theory with a WWE Championship match against Big E for showing "intestinal fortitude", which he lost. Theory would be given career advice by McMahon over the following weeks, serving as his protégé. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2022, Theory entered his first Royal Rumble match at #3, lasting 22 minutes before he was eliminated by AJ Styles. Two days later on Raw, Theory defeated Kevin Owens to qualify for an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship at the namesake event on February 19, but was the last man pinned by Brock Lesnar after being hit with an F-5 from the top of one of the pods down to the floor. On the February 28 episode of Raw, Theory bribed McMahon into having himself accompany him to his interview with Pat McAfee to no avail. Theory confronted McAfee on the March 4 episode of SmackDown, announcing he would be McAfee's opponent at WrestleMania 38. On Night 2 of WrestleMania on April 3, Theory lost to McAfee, but helped McMahon defeat McAfee in the subsequent fight that ensued, until Stone Cold Steve Austin came out and hit Theory, McMahon, and McAfee with Stone Cold Stunners.
The following night on Raw, Theory and The Usos defeated RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) and United States Champion Finn Bálor after Theory pinned Bálor, earning the chance to challenge for Bálor's title. In a backstage segment the following week, Theory announced he and Mr. McMahon decided that the name Austin did not suit him anymore, dropping the first name and going by Theory. On the April 18 episode of Raw, Theory defeated Bálor to win the United States Championship for the first time in his career, becoming the second youngest champion in the title's history and the youngest champion under the WWE banner. On the May 9 episode of Raw, Theory lost in his first title defense against Cody Rhodes by disqualification after interference from Rollins, but as championships cannot change hands by disqualification, he retained the title. He successfully defended the title against Mustafa Ali on the May 30 episode of Raw and at Hell in a Cell on June 5.
At Money in the Bank on July 2, Theory lost the United States Championship to Bobby Lashley, ending his reign at 75 days. Later that night, he was added to and won the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match, making him the youngest superstar to win the Money in the Bank contract in WWE history, as well as being the first Money in the Bank winner to lose a title and win the contract on the same night. At SummerSlam on July 30, Theory failed to regain the United States Championship from Lashley. Later that night, he attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract during the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Last Man Standing match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but was hit with an F-5 by Lesnar before he could officially cash in. In August, his name was reverted to Austin Theory. At Clash at the Castle on September 3, he again attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract during the main event, only to be knocked out by Tyson Fury before he could officially do so. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Rollins for the United States Championship, but was unsuccessful, partially due to interference from Lashley.
United States Champion (2022–2023)
On November 26, at Survivor Series WarGames, Theory defeated Rollins and Lashley in a triple threat match to win his second United States Championship. He retained the title against Rollins and Lashley on the January 2 and 23 (in a No Disqualification match) episodes of Raw, respectively. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023, Theory entered at #25, but was eliminated by eventual winner Cody Rhodes. At Elimination Chamber on February 18, Theory successfully defended the title against Bronson Reed, Damian Priest, Johnny Gargano, Montez Ford and Rollins in an Elimination Chamber match, marking the first time the title was contested inside the namesake structure. On the following episode of Raw, he retained the title against Edge in an open challenge after interference from Finn Bálor. On the March 6 episode of Raw, Theory challenged the returning John Cena to a match for the title at WrestleMania 39, which Cena accepted. On Night 1 of WrestleMania on April 1, Theory defeated Cena to retain the title.