WWE News: Why Braun Strowman was not on WWE RAW
What’s the story?
According to Wrestling Observer Live, Braun Strowman's absence from the most recent edition of WWE RAW was done by design.
Dave Meltzer explained that it's WWE's current goal to minimise the physical interactions between Brock Lesnar and him ahead of their Universal Championship Match at No Mercy.
In case you didn’t know…
At SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar felt the full physical force of "The Monster Among Men" during their Fatal 4-Way Match (along with Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe) for the Universal Championship. Lesnar took subsequent Powerslams through an announce table from Strowman before he tipped over a third table onto "The Beast Incarnate".
In storyline, the punishment was so devastating that Brock needed to leave the contest briefly to receive medical attention.
On last week's Raw, the punishment continued as Lesnar took two more Powerslams in the middle of the ring. Strowman stood tall in the middle of the ring holding the Universal Title while Brock laid lifeless below him.
The heart of the matter
Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar furthered the feud this past Monday night even though there was no Braun in sight. They borrowed the phrase "monster handled" from Corey Graves to describe the punishment Brock has endured so far.
Heyman also added that while he doesn't believe in monsters, he does believe that Braun Strowman is one.
Meltzer's claim that the physicality is being saved until the pay-per-view appears to be true so far. This is a familiar booking tactic for Lesnar as WWE continues to work around his limited schedule.
What’s next?
No fighting between the two will happen on next week's RAW because only Braun Strowman is advertised for that show. The earliest that they might come to blows again might be on the September 11th episode, which airs live from Anaheim, California.
Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Championship Match against Braun Strowman at the RAW-exclusive No Mercy event on September 24th in Los Angeles, California.
Author’s take
It's probably a good idea to refrain from a monster's brawl before No Mercy because it felt like that was what happened on a near-weekly basis for Braun's feud with Roman Reigns.
The feud with Roman was awesome, but how long can that level of intensity be sustained? There are only so many combustion engine vehicles that WWE can find for Strowman to flip.