Austin Theory is retiring the Spanish Fly.
On the January 12 episode of WWE SmackDown, Austin Theory and Carmelo Hayes went to the top rope for an Avalanche Spanish Fly. The two men landed awkwardly on their heads on the spot and the referee called an end to the bout.
Fortunately, both men were okay.
Speaking to West Sport, Theory reflected on the spot and said he is retiring it.
“Well, all jokes aside, when it comes to inside that ring and what we do, the risk level is extremely high. It doesn’t matter how many times you wanna practice or go through the routine of a move, it’s real life, there’s danger with that. It’s two human bodies doing superhuman-like things. In this scenario with Carmelo Hayes, I’m going for a move I’ve did plenty of times, it just so happens as we’re going through the rotation, the back of his foot hits the top rope. So, all of the momentum of us rotating, when his foot hits, it takes us straight down. Just based off of the video, it looks insane. To be honest, after that, I seriously could’ve been paralyzed or my career could’ve been done. I could have been seriously hurt, broke my neck, there’s so many factors, but luckily as we came down, I let go to catch myself and I turn my head all the way to the left and when we landed, the back of his head hit my face pretty hard. But when we were laying there, I was fine, I didn’t feel rocked or lost or that feeling of, oh, what’s going on? I felt fine. But at the same time too, that’s such a scary moment, especially when you’re out there and something goes wrong and doesn’t feel right. Seeing the video footage back of myself upside down literally on the top of my head, wow. Very grateful for that and that move is retired for Austin Theory," he said.
Theory and Hayes would rematch on the January 26 episode of WWE SmackDown with Theory picking up the victory.
Theory is not scheduled to compete at WWE Elimination Chamber. Fans can check out the lineup for the show by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
