Austin Theory Cashes In His Money In The Bank Contract On WWE Raw

In a shocking turn of events, Austin Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the closing stages of the 11/7 "WWE Raw," but it was for a shot at United States Champion Seth Rollins. When the show went off the air, Theory had lost possession of his briefcase, with no title to show for it.

Theory seemed to be in prime position to capture the U.S. Title after Rollins suffered a beatdown at the hands of Bobby Lashley, who initially answered Rollins' Open Challenge. However, the Lashley vs. Rollins match never got underway, and The All Mighty retreated to the back after slamming Rollins through the announce desk with a vicious spinebuster. As Rollins grimaced in pain, Theory came running down to the ring, and a title change seemed like a foregone conclusion. 

Less than a few minutes into his cash-in, Theory had Rollins beat when he countered a Stomp into an A-Town Down. Just then, Lashley pulled the referee out of the ring and proceeded to slam Theory headfirst into the ring post. Lashley would then apply the Hurt Lock on Theory before once again leaving the ringside area. Once a lifeless Theory rolled back into the ring, he was met with a timely Stomp from Rollins, leading to his pinfall loss to the U.S. Champion. 

Theory becomes only the fifth WWE Superstar to unsuccessfully cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, joining the likes of John Cena (Raw 1000 vs. CM Punk), Damien Sandow (in 2013 vs. John Cena), Baron Corbin (in 2017 vs. Jinder Mahal) and Braun Strowman (in 2018 vs. Roman Reigns). However, Cena and Strowman's cash-in attempts were not impromptu ones, as they used the briefcase for scheduled matches. The Miz had similarly used the briefcase to insert himself into a WWE Title match in 2020, but the cash-in was later nullified by WWE official Adam Pearce. 

Theory's cash-in was also the first instance of a male Superstar using the Money in the Bank briefcase for a non-World Title shot.