On the September 15, 2023 episode of WWE SmackDown, The Rock returned to WWE television and confronted Austin Theory. The Rock was brought out by Pat McAfee, who was already in the ring with Theory.
It was The Rock's first live appearance since October 2019 when WWE SmackDown premiered on Fox.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Theory looked back on the segment.
“So the day starts. I have nothing that day at SmackDown, I’m kind of lingering around wondering am I doing anything? I haven’t heard anything. Was it a setup? I don’t know. It didn’t feel like one, but if it was, then wow, you got me. But I remember we have an hour before the show kicks off. So we were in Colorado, so the time is probably like a couple of hours [back]. So we had an hour before the show, I get a call, and I end up going to Triple H’s office, and he basically gives me the rundown of 'Hey, Pat McAfee’s coming back. We’re thinking you go out there, you cut a promo, and then kind of get on him, and then we’ll have The Rock come out.' I’m just like, for real? Alright! So then they’re sitting there, and then the head writer, he’s like, 'Hey, there’s not a lot of time left now. There’s like 40 minutes, 30 minutes left. Go figure out what you want to say to Pat and then we’ll figure out the rest, we’ll tell you what you’re doing with Rock when he gets here.' So I’m like, well he’s not even here, this is crazy. So I go away and I started thinking in my head. I started thinking too about the last time I was in the ring with Pat McAfee, and how the promos were. I remember he said some things that I couldn’t, I could only say what I was able to say. But I feel like there was some more freedom there for him. So in my mind, I’m like well this is where I’ve got to take it, I’ve got to get it back. So going out there, we had the same outfit on, so I ripped into him about that, you don’t look like me in a tank top. I called him something and then Rock comes out," recalled Theory.
The Rock had been on Pat McAfee's show earlier in the day, and was in town for Colorado's football game that weekend.
Theory continued, “Before Rock comes out, kind of going back to when I met Rock, I remember, I came up with what I wanted to say on Pat I was like, Okay, I got it. And then I just get a text, come outside. I come outside, and it was one of the writers, and he said, Come with me. And then next thing I know, I’m with Triple H and Nick Khan and we’re all walking outside. The busses are there, and this black car pulls up, six people get out, it’s just insane to me. Rock gets out, and I’m like this is crazy. He’s like the size of a blimp. He looks insane. I’m like, What is going on? They walk over, I think they’re just trying to get us on a bus so this could be private and nobody sees Rock. I think Nick Khan knocks on Charlotte Flair’s bus, and they’re like, Hey, can you get off? She’s like, alright. So she just gets off, and then we get on the bus. Then I just remember I was in the back of the bus with The Rock, and he was kind of telling me 'When we get out there, it’s going to be magic. Just feel it. It’s going to be good.' And I kid you not being out there with him. He did like these Jedi mind tricks with his eyes, when I just knew when to go, when to say something, and just feeling it with him. He would just, I don’t know, just with his eyes. I was like, oh man. But it was such an experience and I just felt so on top of my game.”
The Rock got the better of Theory in an exchange, laying him out with the People's Elbow.
Fans can check out the full interview with Theory in the video below.
