WWE: Braun Strowman’s Two-Year Anniversary

The Wyatt Family’s Black Sheep

One can easily picture the creative meeting that led to Strowman first appearing in the role of Bray Wyatt muscle. Physically, he fit right in beside Bray, Luke Harper and Eric Rowan (though he wasn’t with Wyatt at the time) as a bearded mountain of a man.

The biggest key in this decision must have been Strowman’s experience. He wasn’t a Kevin Owens or Sami Zayn who spent years on the independent scene gaining experience and honing his craft. Rather, he was picked from the strongman world based on his physical attributes and frankly rushed through the WWE developmental system.

Being a part of a group where he wasn’t required to handle the mic seemed like the ideal spot that would allow Strowman to learn and to grow. Theoretically, he would also benefit from taking part in multi-man matches that could hide his deficiencies as a worker, but that didn’t stop fans from being critical of what they deemed to be subpar performances.

Though it was true that his in-ring contributions (limited as they were) didn’t show off a wide array of wrestling skills, Strowman found his place as a destructive monster, and there were certainly indications that pointed towards a future Strowman push.

Like putting together a puzzle, the picture isn’t always clear until the final piece is placed. For one, Strowman barely ever left his feet, a classic demonstration of a big man’s indestructible nature.

Furthermore, his two most important confrontations as a Wyatt Family member foreshadowed his two biggest feuds to date: his debuting attack on Roman Reigns, as well as his confrontation with Brock Lesnar at the 2016 Royal Rumble.