From The WWE Rumor Mill: No Mercy crowd unhappy with Braun Strowman after the main event?
What's the story?
Something interesting happened after No Mercy went off the air on Sunday. There were reports throughout social media that the crowd in Los Angeles was booing Braun Strowman after losing to Brock Lesnar in the main event for the WWE Universal Championship.
In case you didn't know...
Lesnar is approaching Kevin Owens' record for longest reign with the WWE Universal Championship in its short history. Owens held the title for 188 days from August 2016 to March 2017. Lesnar is roughly ten days away from passing Owens after winning the title from Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 this past April.
The heart of the matter
It seems odd that the WWE Universe would boo someone as popular as Strowman after the match, but there are two possible reasons for the crowd reacting the way they did.
The first is that the crowd wasn't booing Strowman at all. They were booing the quality of the match. Many people posted on social media about the quality of the match not being up to par compared to the series of matches that Strowman had with The Big Show. This was being billed as a WrestleMania-quality match, but in the end, it didn't feel that way.
The second theory also co revolve around the crowd not booing Strowman, but the result of the match itself. Many within the WWE Universe want to see the WWE Universal Champion on a weekly basis. Strowman was a perfect candidate to defeat Lesnar with how far he has come to transform into a main event player over the past year.
What's next?
It is unknown what is next for both Strowman and Lesnar following the No Mercy main event. Lesnar will likely not wrestle again until Survivor Series with potentially Finn Balor getting a shot at regaining the WWE Universal Championship he never lost.
Strowman is the bigger question mark. After losing clean to Lesnar after one F5, WWE needs to build Strowman back up stronger than ever, and maybe a feud with his former leader Bray Wyatt could be next. His future should be clearer on tonight's edition of Monday Night Raw.
Author's take
As I mentioned in the "heart of the matter," I don't believe the crowd directed the boos towards Strowman. He's garnered the biggest pops from the WWE Universe over the past few months due to the great work he's put in, and I honestly think people were ready for Lesnar to drop the title.
I am in the same boat because I would like the WWE Universal Champion to be on my television more than Brock Lesnar is, and with this win, it almost makes it guaranteed that Lesnar holds the title until WrestleMania.