Austin Theory finally got what he wanted at WWE WrestleMania 39, a one-on-one match against his idol, John Cena. Making the match all the more important was Theory’s United States Championship being on the line, a title that Cena made synonymous with himself early in his career, going so far as to have it infamously redesigned as a hip-hop-inspired “spinner belt.”
Despite tradition, the champion made his way to the ring first for the opening bout of the opening night of WWE’s biggest event of the year. The crowd was relatively tepid for the young star but, obviously, he wasn’t getting cheered. Cena, on the other hand, was immediately greeted by a group of smiling children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the top of the ramp before he ran full speed down the more than 100-foot entrance ramp into the ring.
The match saw the two men test each other, with neither really gaining an advantage, until a ref bump about seven minutes into the match. With the ref down, Theory hit Cena with a low blow before lifting the Dr. Of Thuganomics onto his shoulders and hitting his signature A-Town Down finisher. The referee rolled over just as Theory got on top of Cena to count the 1-2-3.
Following the match, Theory stood over a downed Cena holding his United States Championship over his head. He will now have to answer to a rabid post-Mania Monday Night Raw crowd tomorrow night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, something Cena had warned him about in a promo leading up to the match. Will the fans in attendance rip the retaining champion a new one? Or, has Theory finally proven himself to the masses and will be roundly cheered? If there’s anything certain about a post-Mania Raw, it’s that nothing is certain.
Stay with Haus of Wrestling for all your WWE WrestleMania 39 coverage.