In a surprising manner, the lengthy title reign of Austin Theory has come to an end on WWE Smackdown with the United States Championship. The title change came in a shocking fashion against a legendary name Rey Mysterio but not against his scheduled opponent on the show.
Heading into WWE Smackdown, Theory attacked the original number-one contender Santos Escobar backstage and caused a kayfabe injury to the Latino World Order member. Despite damaging his knee, Escobar made his way out to the ring for the scheduled match against Theory only to be attacked by Theory once again. This time, Theory hurt his knee so badly that WWE doctors would ultimately refuse Escobar to compete in the match.
At this point, Rey Mysterio came out to step in for his close LWO friend to cause an impromptu title match against Theory. The back-and-forth bout would end with Mysterio nailing the 619 on Theory and pin him for a three-count to win the US title for the third time in his illustrious career. Escobar and the rest of the LWO members embraced the WWE Hall of Famer and celebrated the title win.
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Theory watched from the ring as his second title run came to an end in the blink of an eye on the August 11 episode of WWE Smackdown. He won the title while being on Raw earlier this year. Before dropping the title to Rey Mysterio, he held the title for 258 days, making him the longest-reigning champion since Dean Ambrose in 2013.
Rey Mysterio was hurt on WWE Smackdown two weeks ago
Two weeks ago on WWE Smackdown, Santos Escobar defeated Rey Mysterio via Doctor’s Stoppage to become the Number-One Contender for the United States Championship. It was informed by the commentators during the match that The Master of 619 got hurt after he was met with a Suicide Dive by Escobar and his head hit hard on the floor.
The doctor checked on Mysterio and determined that the WWE Hall of Famer couldn’t continue after which Escobar received a bye to the United States Title match scheduled for this week’s WWE Smackdown. But Mysterio’s injury wasn’t that fatal as he first appeared on NXT, this week to get physical and then return to action within three nights to also become a champion.
