WWE: The Rise of Braun Strowman, The Monster Among Men

Braun Strowman is one of the most popular wrestlers in the WWE today, and we chronicle the rise of the “Monster Among Men”.

It’s hard to imagine that Braun Strowman first debuted on the main roster as a Rosebud.

When Braun Strowman debuted as a member of the Wyatt family, everyone immediately took notice of the Monster Among Men.

It wasn’t until August 2015 when Strowman came out as the fourth member of the Wyatt family. He came out in a black sheep’s mask, which I still have nightmares about, and attacked Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Now this caught people’s attention.

While being a dominant force with the Wyatts, he wasn’t connecting with the crowd the way he should have been.

Don’t get me wrong, his matches were good. He got the opportunity to face some once-in-a-lifetime opponents (Dudley Boyz, Rhyno & Tommy Dreamer at TLC 2015, Wrestlemania 32 had a confrontation with The Rock) and always proved to be a powerhouse.

At the 2016 Royal Rumble, he had the most eliminations, at five, before he was eliminated by “The Beast Incarnate”, Brock Lesnar. That wouldn’t be the last we saw of Strowman, as he would return to help the Wyatts eliminate Lesnar. It was during the rumble that he was put over to be known as a “monster”.

There was always something special about the nearly 7foot, 385lb monster. At first, it was his sheer size and power that caught everyone’s attention.

WWE fans know Vince McMahon’s fascination with “Big Men” wrestlers, and Braun is everything you could want in this mold of a wrestler.

More from WWE

In the 2016 WWE draft, Strowman was traded to Raw, while the rest of the Wyatt’s stayed on SmackDown. This was when the WWE community got to see the incredible athleticism Strowman possesses.

For his size, his agility, speed, and stamina, he is an attraction on his own.

WWE was quick to have Braun Strowman run with his growing popularity.

During his first few weeks on Raw, he was given no competition, defeating James Ellsworth and some local wrestlers in quick squash matches.

Strowman went on a undefeated streak, beating the likes of Sin Cara and Sami Zayn. During this period he was never pinned, again, building the “monster” persona in fans minds.

Fans everywhere were instantly hooked on Strowman’s power and ability to destroy his competition. And that’s exactly what he did.

Strowman constantly demanded tougher competition, and when wasn’t given it, he would take matters into his own hands and interfere in matches – the most memorable being when he interfered in a couple Roman Reigns matches.

With all the heat towards Reigns, Braun attacking him made him an instant favorite. This set them up for a match at Fastlane. During the contract signing, Strowman threw Reigns into the turnbuckle, causing the ring to break. The crowd lost it.

Fastlane would mark the first pinfall Strowman would suffer, but the beginning of a long feud with Reigns.

Strowman would have continued success both in ring and within the WWE community. When his music hit, he would get the loudest pops from the crowd.

In May 2017, WWE announced Braun had shattered his elbow and would require surgery, leaving him unable to compete for up to six months.

The injury was real, but the severity wasn’t, allowing Braun to return two months later. This gave the WWE community another reason to believe he really is a monster among us.

Upon his return, he headed straight for Reigns, attacking him after a match with Samoa Joe.

After the attack, Strowman challenged Reigns to an ambulance match (first person to put their opponent in the back of the ambulance and close the doors, wins) at the first ever Great Balls of Fire pay per view.

Reigns won the match and proceeded to reverse the ambulance into the back of a production truck, seemingly crushing Strowman. Without medical help, Strowman got out of the ambulance and left the arena.

Again, this reiterated the conception of Braun being a monster.

For SummerSlam, Strowman was put in a fatal four way match,with Reigns, Samoa Joe and current champion Brock Lesnar. After failing to win the championship off Brock, he was issued another championship match at No Mercy.

During this match, Strowman dominated the first half. This is unheard of when facing Brock. Roles were quickly reversed, and the Beast was unleashed on the Monster. Brock would hit him with the F-5 and get the 1,2,3 win.

No matter if he won or lost, he was still put over and seen as a true monster among men during the build to that match.

After The Shield reunited and claimed they could beat three guys, four guys, and even five guys before their match against The Miz and The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro), Strowman sided with The Miz at TLC.

Kane would also team with The Miz, making it a 5-on-3 handicap match. An illness would sideline Reigns, and Kurt Angle would replace him as the third member of The Shield.

At one point during the match, Strowman went to give Angle a running powerslam through a table. I held my breath, given Angle’s neck issues and it being his first time back in a ring in about 3 years, but one thing stuck out. Strowman is so big, so fast and so strong, yet he is probably one of the safest wrestlers. The way he protected Angle, especially his neck, as he slammed him through a table was amazing.

It’s the small things like that, that make you realize how undeniable Strowman’s talent is in the WWE.

Strowman was taken out of this match, and potentially forever, when his team turned on him. First, Kane would chokeslam him through the stage floor, and then proceed to rip the hanging chairs (set decoration) from the ceiling, covering Braun on the floor.

After a few minutes Strowman would get out from underneath the chairs, leaving Kane shocked. That’s when the rest of them would help attack him, throwing him into the back of a garbage truck, shutting it which would seem as though he was crushed to death and driven out of the arena.

The next week Strowman would return to Raw. He left a sign for The Miz and Miztourage (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) in the form of a bag of garbage in their dressing room.

After Raw was done, the three high tailed it to their car to leave the arena, only to be blocked in by a garbage truck with garbage all over the floor. Ever so perfectly, Strowman rises up from the garbage and does his infamous yell.

There has never been a louder pop for someone rising out of garbage, than there was for Strowman.

Photo Source. WWE.com

Strowman would scale the car, which is impressive for a regular-size human, let alone someone his size. He chased the three stars back into the arena, where he gave them, specifically Axel, the beatdown of a lifetime.

The Miz and Bo Dallas were able to escape the ring, sacrificing Axel to the monster. He gave him the running powerslam, but the fans weren’t done chanting “one more time”. Strowman would deliver three more running powerslams, before carrying Axel, as if he were a carton of milk, over to the announce table to deliver a fifth running powerslam through the table.

The fans were eating it up. Apparently it caught notice from his GM, Kurt Angle, as that night he announced Strowman to be the first member of Team Raw at Survivor Series.

At Survivor Series, Strowman eliminated three out of five stars, Shinuske Nakamura, Bobby Roode and Randy Orton.

Shane McMahon would be the only member of Team SmackDown left to face Triple H, Angle and Strowman. Triple H turned on Angle, eliminating him and then eliminating Shane himself.

Feeling proud of himself, Triple H got Strowman in the ring, who stared at him puzzled. Triple H would soon learn to not cross him. After handing out a few running powerslams, Strowman left the match as if he won it.

For me, there hasn’t been a star so properly booked in a long time. Everything they are doing with him has been perfect, and it is clearly paying off.

Next: Who Is The Greatest Superstar To Never Be World Champion?

Every week when that music hits, the crowd gets louder and louder.

With the fans and creative behind Braun, it is exciting to see where he will be able to take and carry the division.

As history has taught us, to destroy a monster you must first become a monster.

Home/WWE