Austin Theory explains reason for 2025 WWE absence
In July 2025, Austin Theory was abruptly sidelined due to an injury, the nature of which was undisclosed.
Speaking on the The Mark Hoke Show Pro Wrestling Radio / Podcast, Theory revealed that he was dealing with a hernia that had worsened over time. Despite the condition, he continued to compete regularly leading to an incident of being rushed to the Emergency Room before a Main Event match.
“Everything happens for a reason. But, I was actually wrestling with a hernia for a very long time, and as gross as it is, I was having to pop it back in after certain matches and yeah, just stuff people don’t know about. They don’t know when somebody goes to the ring what the damage is but, I was in a good spot, and even when it was hitting a low for me, I was doing everything that I could to just stay and keep the wheels turning on the car, and it reached a point, I had a match on Main Event, and it would not go back in. So that night, I went to the emergency room, and it blew my mind because I was like, ‘wow, I just had my gear on, and I went out there and I wrestled and now I’m in the E.R.’, and now it’s like, well, ‘where does this go from now?’ Because now I’m out of the picture.”
He elaborated that his WWE contract was nearing expiration at the time which became an additional cause of worry.
“My contract was actually coming up so, a lot of things were hitting me personally and that’s kind of one of those things, that’s a low point in your life where you get really rocked, and to me, those points are where you really, you either stay down or you pick yourself up and you become a version of yourself that’s always been in you but it takes you to that next level, and it helped me reframe my mindset and everything and coming back, I just knew, this is my value and this is what I need to be doing. So, and as you see, it’s clear vision now.”
In December 2025, Theory returned to WWE and revealed his identity as the masked man who targeted Seth Rollins at Survivor Series:WarGames. This forged his union with The Vision.
Last month, he and Logan Paul defeated The Usos to win the World Tag Team Championship. At WrestleMania 42, the champions will team up with IShowSpeed against The Usos and LA Knight. This escalated after IShowSpeed cost The Usos their tag team titles on the March 30 edition of Raw leaving them furious.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.