Backstage report on former champion responsible for major title change after 258 days this week on WWE SmackDown - Reports
Last week on WWE SmackDown, there was a major title change after 258 days. While the champion lost despite his best attempts to stack the odds in his favor, it was another former champion responsible for booking Austin Theory's United States Title loss. Multi-time champion Robert Roode was shadowing another former champion, Jamie Noble, while producing the segment, according to reports.
Robert Roode has been missing from WWE ever since he was injured last year. He recently went through another surgery, and while he is active, he has stepped away from in-ring competition, at least for the time being. Instead, he is producing matches backstage, shadowing another star.
Meanwhile, Austin Theory, who was scheduled to face Santos Escobar in a defense of his title on the latest episode of SmackDown, attacked his prospective opponent twice before the match, making sure he was unable to compete.
Instead, he was confronted by the runner-up of the tournament which decided his challenger, as Rey Mysterio came down to the ring. The two had an intense battle, and Mysterio defeated Theory to become the new champion. Theory had held the title for an immense 258 days before losing to the Hall of Famer.
According to Fightful Select, the match was produced by Robert Roode and Jamie Noble backstage. Roode has only recently started in this role in WWE and has almost immediately been involved in booking one of the more important segments on the show.
It will be interesting to see what segments he becomes involved with next.
It also remains to be seen what the future holds for Austin Theory after his title loss to Mysterio.