Austin Theory's Long Road to Recovery After Failed Money in the Bank Cash-In

When Austin Theory grabbed the Money in the Bank briefcase on July 2, he had a future world title shot guaranteed. All he needed was the right time and he would cash in the briefcase for a chance to win one of the most coveted prizes in wrestling.

Fast forward four months to this week's episode of WWE Raw, and the dream has turned into a nightmare after Theory failed to capture the United States Championship from Seth Rollins.

Why this happened and how WWE decided this course of action was the best direction remains to be explained, but the immediate fallout has been nothing but negative, rather than a step forward for his career.

If WWE has any intention to build Theory up as a future top star, he is looking at several major hurdles to overcome to restore his credibility.

Theory has seen nearly 30 Superstars hold the briefcase. He should know the ins and outs of how to best cash in to ensure he wins a title.

He did try a few times to take advantage of the wars between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, but was unable to seal the deal. All that made perfect sense.

But why did he suddenly decide to use his cash-in on Monday for a match that was already an open challenge?

Had Rollins not put out that request and was randomly attacked, it would have at least justified the use of the briefcase with Theory forcing a referee to start an impromptu match. With the open challenge, he could have gotten a title match without using the briefcase.

This makes the 25-year-old look like a fool, which is not how his character has been presented and it's not going to be what propels him to greater heights.

His "himbo" gimmick was fun as part of The Way in NXT, but that had an expiration date. If he's ever to be taken seriously, he can't be the dumb-jock comedic guy.

If Superstars start making fun of Theory for being daft, how will he be written to respond other than to be annoyed that they're right or too foolish to understand his mistake?

WWE has to be careful to give him a valid excuse to explain why he thought cashing in on Monday was a good idea, and it has to be something fans could see the logic behind. Otherwise, Theory is just going to become the butt of jokes and memes.

On paper, losing to a former multi-time champion like Rollins is no big deal, but it's not as simple as that.

Bobby Lashley attacked The Visionary prior to the match, so should have been an easy victory for Theory to hit one or two moves and secure a pinfall.

The All Mighty's subsequent attack on Theory is no excuse. It doesn't stop him from looking weak, as all it did was even the odds, rather than put Theory at a disadvantage.

This forces Theory's in-ring credibility to take a hit. He couldn't even beat a guy who could barely stand. That's harsh.

If you thought he didn't have enough big wins under his name to win Money in the Bank to begin with, you likely think of him as a guy who couldn't lace up the boots of anyone in the upper echelon of WWE.

Wins and losses do matter, and feeding him enhancement talent doesn't do the job.

By no means was Theory's win over Shelton Benjamin—after downgrading The Gold Standard's own credibility—a proper balance to losing in the main event.

If Theory is the next John Cena, he needs to beat established major names such as Cena himself as well as consistently win other major matches and feuds along the way.

Theory isn't an underdog babyface character. If his name is on a marquee against Lashley, it shouldn't appear to be heavily one-sided.

The only way for him to not seem out of his league against the top talent is if he's able to actually compete with them and come out on top sometimes, which hasn't happened in months.

In turn, it will take many months of winning feuds with people like Rollins, Lashley, Drew McIntyre, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio and Kevin Owens for fans to warm to the idea that he's not just a kid punching above his weight or scoring a fluke victory once in a blue moon.

Perception is everything, and WWE might have overlooked how many fans will interpret this cash-in as a failure at the midcard level rather than at main event status.

This was the first time someone had used the briefcase to win anything outside of the top prize. And even though Theory has been U.S. champion before, he still couldn't get the job done.

That means he's regressed, putting him lower than the midcard title on the totem pole.

The Money in the Bank concept itself has taken a hit with this, too.

In the past, WWE has erroneously booked briefcase-holders to lose. The idea was that their eventual win would balance it all out and the promise of that shielded it from criticism that they were losing too much momentum.

As time goes by, though, each failed cash-in attempt carries more baggage than the next.

It was also poor timing for this to come right after the 24/7 Championship was thrown in the garbage by Nikki Cross. That was a clear message about that title being worthless, so it's understandable some fans could think this was on the same wavelength.

If that isn't true, WWE needs to immediately let it be known this wasn't supposed to signify Theory's push and the Money in the Bank concept by proxy are just as easy to toss away as the 24/7 title.

Money in the Bank needs some strong winners in the next few years, and Theory needs to win a title of equal or greater value than this briefcase used to be.

After suffering a major setback, the best thing you can do is step aside and distance yourself.

That is not the case here, though. Time is of the essence.

This problem won't just go away on its own. Fans are not going to chalk this up to an interesting main event of one night's worth of television that gets reset next week.

Unless Theory washes off the stink of failure immediately, it will stick with him for years to come, just as Corbin's cash-in loss in 2017 has haunted him.

Learn from the mistake of how Otis lost his briefcase. WWE didn't follow that up with any rehab, and he fell into obscurity. The closest he's come to getting back on track was a short run with the tag titles, which means nothing compared to having a world title in your sights.

Time doesn't heal all wounds. Sometimes, it leaves scars.

By the end of the next episode of Raw, it has to be firmly established that this was a catastrophic detour on Theory's road to success but he's now back on track.

The longer WWE waits to project this future for Theory, the more negative perceptions will solidify for fans.

Theory's recovery needs to be swift, but that doesn't mean there is a one-shot solution that will undo all the damage on the next episode of Raw.

In particular, WWE cannot think it is as simple as having Theory beat down Rollins out of anger. That won't be good enough.

Even if Theory won next year's Money in the Bank and successfully cashed it in, it wouldn't replace the first failure in the history books.

Just as lost trust needs to be re-earned by building it up over time, a wrestler in A-Town's shoes needs prolonged sustainability to his push in order to be a believable investment again. Fans won't get on board if there's a chance it'll go nowhere.

Starting with his next appearance, Theory needs consistent in-ring wins over major names and a character that isn't dwelling on this defeat.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.