Well, for starters,
Austin Theory was a bodybuilding champion at the age of 17. Here's an image of him in that bodybuilding competition. Keep in mind he was only 17 at the time. Now that he’s a full time professional wrestler at the age of 25, there’s no doubt in my mind that Theory is in full peak condition, making him physically superior to a lot of the wrestlers in the roster, as well as one of the most athletically gifted.
Theory was stated by commentary to have been blessed with all of the tools an athlete can hope for, and is a true prodigy in the world of professional wrestling. This already shows the massive amounts of potential/skill Theory has.
To start things off with a bang, there’s this new wrestler called Axiom. In
this promo, he’s billed as someone who can quickly analyze and react to anything thanks to his gift for mathematics, which he uses to defeat wrestlers in the ring. Yes, this guy uses mathematical formulas while in the middle of a match to defeat his opponents. Keep in mind, this guy
struggles with NXT wrestlers, while Austin Theory has fought on par with and defeated some of the best wrestlers in the business, so Theory is likely far superior to the likes of Axiom, which is already extremely impressive in itself.
Theory on his debut NXT match was able to fight on par with
Roderick Strong.
Strong has over 20 years of experience as a wrestler, and was nicknamed The Master of the Backbreaker, due to his ability to constantly target the opponent's back in wrestling matchups.
Theory was also able to hold his own against the likes of
Aleister Black, who was trained in
Pencak Silat and
Kickboxing from the
ages 9 to 15.
Austin Theory defeated Ricochet
in only a couple of minutes. Ricochet is notorious for using his
absurd levels of acrobatics and quick reflexes to blitz, overwhelm, and defeat his opponents.
Theory was able to give
Bobby Lashley a good run for his money. Bobby Lashley has a very good
mixed martial arts background, having a record of
15-2, defeating the likes of Joshua Franklin in 41 seconds (TKO), and Mike Cook in 24 seconds (Submission). He even defeated
James Thompson, who at that point, had over a decade of experience in mixed martial arts. Lashley defeated him in 54 seconds via TKO.
Theory was also able to give
AJ Styles a good run for his money. AJ Styles is the same guy who was able to beat
John Cena clean. Cena is the same guy
who looked like was about to beat Brock Lesnar before getting interrupted. Brock Lesnar was an
Amateur Wrestler, and a
Mixed Martial Artist career, which he uses, along with his Amateur Wrestling background to decimate his opponents. Lesnar had a record of
106-5 in his 4 years of college wrestling at the NCAA, as well as winning the NCAA Division I Heavyweight Championship.
After a hard-hitting, physical match,
Theory was able to defeat Dolph Ziggler clean. Ziggler has a great amateur wrestling background. Ziggler set the record for most pins in St. Edward High School with
82 pins. When he was a wrestler at Kent State University, he at one point, held the record for most career wins in the team's history, earning
121 wins (the record was soon broken, but this still says a lot for how skilled Theory is).
Theory was able to
trade blows with the likes of Drew McIntyre. McIntyre is the same guy
who had wars with the likes
of Sheamus. In fact, while participating in a grueling ‘Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook’ match, McIntyre was even capable of kicking out of
The Brogue Kick. The Brogue Kick is one of the most dangerous moves in all of Pro Wrestling. A referee
suffered chronic neck pain when hit with the move. The Brogue Kick was stated to cause
extreme nerve damage and tingling in the extremities of the victim. A move this dangerous was something that Drew McIntyre kicked out of, and Theory traded blows with McIntyre.
Theory was able to defeat Finn Balor for the United States Championship, becoming the youngest US Champion in WWE history. Now here's where I go talking about Finn Balor's skill.
Roman Reigns has fought against Brock Lesnar on numerous occasions, and has even won 2 of their battles. He's also defeated The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, becoming the 2nd person to do this. Now, let me show you some skill feats for Lesnar and Taker.
The Undertaker is considered
the greatest pure striker in Sports Entertainment history. Even the likes of Kurt Angle was scared to take a punch from him.
If ya don't know Kurt Angle, he's notorious for winning a gold medal with a broken neck, who
is this skilled, and was named the
greatest shoot wrestler ever.
The Undertaker was undefeated at Wrestlemania
for 21 straight years, so that also says alot, especially considering that Undertaker defeated some of the best in the business to keep his streak intact (Randy Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and many more).
The Undertaker also defeated
Goldberg (this match was so shit, but just try to ignore that). Goldberg had a winning streak of
173-0 at one point, so even more impressive.
Finn Balor also defeated
Pete Dunne, who's fighting style revolves around brawling, stiff strikes, submission grappling, and bending of his opponents fingers (
Small Joint Manipulation), which will leave someone extremely handicapped in a fight, especially since wrestling is all about striking, grappling and holding, and you can't do that without functioning fingers. Pete Dunne was also the same guy who
was able to solo the entire Undisputed Era by himself, and the group has been regarded as one of the most dominant factions in WWE history.
The group ended up winning all of the gold in NXT at one point.
To pour more salt into the wound,
Andre the Giant was undefeated for 15 straight years.
Hulk Hogan was able to defeat Andre the Giant, breaking his undefeated 15 year streak.
The Undertaker was able to defeat Hulk Hogan
on two different occasions.
Now, I wouldn't say that Finn is quite on this level of skill, but he was able to hold his own against Roman Reigns, who's defeated The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, who scale to all of this, so he should at best, be comparable to it. Not exactly equal, but for sure comparable. Theory should also be comparable to this level of skill, as he defeated Balor on numerous occasions.