5 mistakes WWE made with Braun Strowman
WWE has announced the release of a few superstars, including Braun Strowman. He was let go alongside Aleister Black, Ruby Riott, Lana, Murphy, and Santana Garrett.
This comes as a huge surprise, with Strowman's release being the biggest one of them all. The Monster Among Men had been a regular on RAW recently and was even a part of the WWE Championship match at the last pay-per-view, WrestleMania Backlash.
Braun Strowman seemed like a "WWE lifer" after signing a huge contract to remain with the company in 2019, while he was the Universal Champion as recently as the start of the ThunderDome era last August. However, he hasn't always enjoyed the best booking from WWE.
The former Wyatt Family member enjoyed a memorable six years in the company, but he does seem like a huge missed opportunity.
Here are five mistakes WWE made with Braun Strowman.
#5 The build to Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 37
The most recent example of WWE mishandling Braun Strowman on this list comes from the lead-up to WrestleMania 37. He was booked to face Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage Match on Night One of the show.
It even delivered well, with Shane O'Mac taking a huge bump from the top of the cage at The Show of Shows. But even if the payoff was satisfying, the journey absolutely wasn't. The whole basis of the feud between Strowman and McMahon was the word "stupid."
The former SmackDown commissioner repeatedly called his larger foe stupid and tried to make him look foolish, even dousing him with slime in one episode of RAW. Their promo segments were not great, while Strowman beating Elias did not do much to raise his stock before WrestleMania.
It was also during this period when WWE decided to add a train sound effect to his spot of running around the ringside area, furthering the confusion surrounding his booking. It didn't seem like a good idea to make Braun Strowman the subject of a bullying angle in the build-up to one of the bigger matches at WrestleMania.