Braun Strowman, The Present and Future of big men in the WWE Part 1: The Beginning of Strowman
In early 2013, It was announced that a strongman named Adam Scherr had signed with WWE. Even though not much was known about Scheer, he would be hidden away in the performance center until debuting beside the Wyatt Family in 2015 under the name Braun Strowman. Sporting a black sheep mask, Strowman would make an immediate impact on the main roster.
On the RAW after SummerSlam, Braun Strowman made his main roster debut by attacking the 'Big Dog' Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, establishing himself as the newest member of the Wyatt Family. Granted at the time we didn't know it, this would be the debut of somebody who could change the way modern day fans look at big men. After debuting, Strowman was placed in many high-profile 6-team matches alongside the Wyatt family against the likes of, the Shield and Chris Jericho, the team of the Big show, Kane and Ryback, the New Day and lastly an extreme 8 man tag team match against the ECW originals. In January of 2016, Braun Strowman would debut in his first ever Royal Rumble match. Having a dominate performance, eliminating the most people of that particular Royal Rumble match with 5 before being eliminated by Brock Lesnar. Strowman would then return later on in the match to help his fellow Wyatt family members eliminate Brock Lesnar. It was in this match, I noticed Braun Strowman may not be like the other big men that have come and gone over the years.
It wasn't until the brand split on July 19th of 2016 when Braun Strowman was separated from the Wyatt Family, that he really started coming into his own. Almost everybody, including myself (being in the arena that night in Boston for the draft) had agreed that Strowman had an uphill battle ahead of him. For several weeks, Strowman would go on to squash local jobbers to showcase his unique power and agility and building his momentum and demanding more competition every week. Finally, getting some sort of challenge against Sami Zayn. Only after Strowman easily defeated 3 local competitors in a handicap match and demanded more competition.
After finally getting his match with Sami Zayn, Set to take place at the RoadBlock: End of the Line PPV. Mick Foley announced that Braun Strowman and Sami Zayn would face each other in a 10-minute time limit in which Sami Zayn would survive. Sami Zayn would go on to anger the big man and sending him into a rampage the next night at RAW. After finding out Sami Zayn wasn't in the building when he demanded a rematch, Braun Strowman would go on to attack Sin Cara, Titus O'Neil, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose throughout the night. Not stopping until getting a Last Man Standing match with Sami Zayn the next week on raw. Braun Strowman would go on to destroy the ultimate underdog Sami Zayn in the Last man Standing match and prove his dominance above the rest.
Since his debut, Braun Strowman has been a blast to watch in an era of wrestling where big men and wrestlers in general aren't as appreciated if you aren't an independent wrestler. Strowman has taken the ball he was given and run a marathon with it. Of course, the creative team has done wonders for Strowman to build a unique presence about him every time his music hits. It's almost as if it's a feeling of you know something great is going to happen.
Thank you for taking this journey with me, be sure to be on the lookout for "Braun Strowman, the Present and Future of Big men In the WWE Part 2: Roman Reigns, I'm not finished with you yet edition."