At Elimination Chamber 2022, Austin Theory was the victim of a particularly risky hold. He suffered an F5 from Brock Lesnar from the top of a room.
Today Austin Theory shares an anecdote related to this spot. He explains that AJ Styles had already done this hold during rehearsals on a safety mat, but that he refused to do it again. That’s when Vince McMahon stepped in to tell Austin Theory to do this take.
Austin Theory tells us:
“I remember the day before, we were rehearsing and everyone was there. AJ Styles was on Brock Lesnar’s shoulders, with a safety mat on the floor. Vince [McMahon] comes up behind me and says, ‘I want you to do this.’ I look and Brock throws AJ to the mat. AJ lands on his side. Those who know AJ know that he never says bad words. If you hear him say a bad word, even on TV, he’s very angry. He said, ‘What the hell is that? It’s stupid, I’m not going to do that!’
Brock comes down and Vince says, ‘Brock, get back up, Theory’s going to do it.’ I tell myself it’s for me. I put the cage up in a panic. I find myself upstairs in this room. I tell myself that this rug won’t be there, but I’m going.
Brock asks me if I’m ready. I answer ‘Yes’ and he dumps me. He threw me in such a way that I landed on my feet, on the carpet. I thought, ‘Okay, if by some miracle he swings me like that again and I land on my feet, I’ll be fine.'”
Although the catch was risky, Austin Theory was not injured.
Photo credit: WWE
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