There are few things WWE loves more than getting celebrities involved in the ring. Some are better than others (some, like Logan Paul, just become regular parts of the roster), but a lot of making a celebrity look good in the ring comes down to the guy selling for them.
On Saturday night in Cleveland, we got an all-time entry in the art of selling for someone who has no idea what they’re doing in the ring from Austin Theory. The ever-obnoxious Theory came out with Grayson Waller while The Miz and R-Truth were hyping up the Cleveland crowd for a new attendance record, and did the typical heel work of bashing the home city, mocking sports teams and celebrities in the crowd. One of those was Jelly Roll, who left his seat and popped up in the ring with a chair and hit both with perfectly adequate chair shots.
That would normally be the end of a celeb segment, but Jelly Roll wasn’t done just yet, as he grabbed Austin Theory by the throat and proceeded to hit Theory with one of the biggest chokeslams you’ll see in any ring — celeb or not.
JELLY SLAM!@JellyRoll615 brought the moves at #SummerSlam! pic.twitter.com/X1CgjVTo84
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2024
This is truly unbelievable work by Theory who effectively hits this chokeslam by himself because, while I’m sure Jelly Roll is pretty strong, he is not “pick a man up 4 feet over his head” strong. Theory has always been elite at the art of selling things in cartoonish fashion, and there is nothing you want more in a spot with a celebrity than that guy. I’m not sure what Theory’s future holds as a potential champion, but if nothing else, he can make a lot of money for a long time in WWE simply by being the guy willing to take crazy bumps from various celebrity guests.
