The masked assailant who attacked CM Punk at Survivor Series on Saturday night has been revealed, according to PWInsider (via WrestleTalk).
Punk came out on the losing end in the men’s WarGames match to close out the show. Midway through the main event, a mystery man entered the cage and attacked the world champion. Following the show, PWInsider reported that Austin Theory is the man under the mask.
The attacker delivered a superkick and The Stomp, two moves that were clearly intended to point to Seth Rollins. Considering Rollins only had shoulder surgery a month ago and has a long recovery, plenty of fans will have assumed this was purposeful misdirection.
Theory has been off WWE programming for a while. He hasn’t wrestled on Raw since May 5, and his last televised match of any kind was on Main Event in July. The 28-year-old was sidelined with an injury of his own.
Coincidentally enough, this wouldn’t be the first time Theory donned a mask and made his presence felt at a WarGames event. He was among the people dressed as Ghostface and helped Johnny Gargano beat Leon Ruff and Damian Priest for the North American Championship in 2020.
A feud with Punk is certainly something that could make Theory a viable threat at the top of the card. The WWE Universe might be a little slow to get on board, though, when he hasn’t really connected with the audience since making the jump from NXT.
The creative team may have a bit of a challenge in terms of presenting Theory as something more than a transitional rival for Punk before he moves on to Rollins.
