Adam Pearce officially announces former WWE champion's return to RAW singles action after over 7 months

The final WWE RAW of 2025 is almost upon us, and Adam Pearce has made a few announcements regarding the same. The brand's general manager recently took to social media to preview the upcoming show, where he also announced Austin Theory's return to RAW singles action after over 7 months.

Austin Theory made his return to WWE on the December 15, 2025, episode of Raw, where he was revealed as the masked man who attacked CM Punk to help The Vision, Brock Lesnar, and Drew McIntyre emerge victorious in the men's WarGames match at Survivor Series. He followed up this reveal with his first match in over 5 months on the following episode of RAW, teaming up with Bronson Reed to defeat Rey Mysterio and CM Punk.

The feud between The Vision and Rey Mysterio is set to continue as Adam Pearce announced that the former Money in the Bank winner will take on the Master of 619 in singles action on the upcoming episode of Raw. This will be Austin Theory’s first singles match on the main roster since losing to Sheamus on the Monday night show back in May 2025.

In addition to the above match, Pearce also announced that The Vision will open the show. Two title matches were announced as AJ Styles and Dragon Lee are set to defend the tag titles against The Usos, while Stephanie Vaquer will look to retain her Women's World Championship against Nikki Bella and Raquel Rodriguez.

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Former WWE writer Vince Russo chimed in on Austin Theory’s return

While Austin Theory returned to WWE and immediately joined the Vision, there was some tension teased between the former United States Champion and Bronson Reed.

Former WWE writer Vince Russo felt that if things go awry, the company might get Austin Theory out of the faction.

"Now you have to ask the question, bro. Are they doing it this way so that in case the people sh*t in Austin Theory, and they can get him out of there? That’s what it sounds like to me."

Austin Theory was pushed heavily at one point, scoring a clean win over John Cena at WrestleMania 39 in addition to winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. However, things went south for him booking-wise under Triple H’s regime. It remains to be seen if his return reinvigorates his career or if we will see more of the same moving forward.

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Edited by Vivek Sharma