Rey Mysterio Beats Austin Theory to Retain WWE US Title at Payback 2023
September 3, 2023
Rey Mysterio defeated Austin Theory at WWE Payback on Saturday to retain the United States Championship.
The Master of the 619 beat the former titleholder after pinning him following a victory roll.
Saturday's bout was a rematch to an encounter that took place on the Aug. 11 episode of SmackDown and saw Mysterio beat Theory to become U.S. champ for the third time in his career.
With that victory, Mysterio ended A-Town's reign at 257 days, which was the third-longest United States Championship reign under the WWE umbrella behind only those of Dean Ambrose and MVP.
Several weeks ago, a modified tournament was set up to determine who would be the next challenger for Theory.
Mysterio won a Fatal 4-Way match against LA Knight, Sheamus and Cameron Grimes, while Santos Escobar beat AJ Styles, Grayson Waller and Butch, setting up a singles match between the LWO stablemates.
Escobar won the match to become No. 1 contender because it had to be cut short when Mysterio suffered an injury.
That set the stage for Escobar vs. Theory for the United States Championship on the Aug. 11 edition of SmackDown, but A-Town attacked his opponent before the match, and he was not medically cleared to compete.
Mysterio stepped up to take Escobar's place, and he made the most of the opportunity by beating Theory for the title.
Theory subsequently faced Knight in a match to determine who Mysterio's first title defense would be against, and the former champ prevailed thanks to interference from The Miz.
At Payback, Theory set out to regain the title he held for much of the past year, but Mysterio got the better of him again to retain.
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