Last week's edition of Raw saw the WWE's latest monster heel, Braun Strowman, defeat Sami Zayn in a Last Man Standing Match and make his presence felt in the main event segment with Roman Reigns and Goldberg. Even though the duo were able to knock Strowman off his feet and send him packing for the night, the fact that it took both of them to do so and just the visual of seeing the southern strongman tower over two of the bigger fellas on the roster made me realize that Braun Strowman had finally arrived.
Beginning his WWE run as the fourth member of the Wyatt Family, Strowman was little more than another enforcer and meat shield for the patriarch, Bray. I liked what he added to the group, but I couldn't see him going too far on his own once the brand split ripped him from the group. At the time, I thought, "Well, here's a generic big man for Kalisto or Finn or Neville to bounce off of. He'll have a couple of squashes and them put over someone more well-rounded."
As of last Monday night, I stand corrected. Strowman's match with Zayn was a nice cap-off to a feud that was pretty gripping on the promo side of things (thanks to the involvement of Mick Foley), even if the 10 Minute Gauntlet thing they did at Roadblock didn't exactly blow the roof off the place. His offense seems more varied, his facial expressions more pertinent, and his overall demeanor exuded all of that "apex predator" stuff that made Randy Orton such a big star. I don't know if he and Reigns could string something together, but with the right dance partner, he could be a valuable character on the Raw roster. Let's look at the other big guys on the show: Rusev is kind of spinning his wheels, Lesnar is barely on the show, and Owens is playing up the cowardly side of his heel persona. Now is the time to, as Steve Austin would say, "Strap a rocket to his ass and push him to the moon."
Strowman comes from the world of weight lifting and strongman competitions, where he was no slouch, securing victories at big events like the Arnold Amatuer and Europa Champions. If he seems a little green in the ring, that's due to his wrestling career only beginning a few years ago in 2013. Coming up through the WWE system with other athlete recruits like Smackdown's Chad Gable, the NXT trainers did a damn fine job of molding him into a wrestler and honing his onscreen persona.
The NXT trainers had a ripe one to work with in Strowman, however. He was already camera-ready, and comes across as a very affable fellow in interviews. After his interview on Steve Austin's podcast and hearing him talk about his plans for "Braun Strowman" as a character and how close he's working with backstage talent like Arn Anderson to become a better worker, I really started rooting for the guy. Now he's in the ring staring down main eventers like Reigns and Goldberg. He had a strong showing in the 2016 Royal Rumble match and I look forward to seeing him go even farther this year.
So the question is, "Where next?" Strowman can probably have a few more matches with Zayn before the crowd sours on it. He could have a similar program with Finn as well. He could have an attraction match with Lesnar or Big Show . . . or even 'Taker. I don't know that he's ready to hold a world title yet, but Reigns isn't really doing anything with the U.S. belt, so maybe Strowman could have a run with it. He's a bundle of potential right now.
Twitter: @ChrisBComics
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