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For the second year running, Braun Strowman is without a clear road to WrestleMania. Can the WWE find room for him on the Grandest Stage of All Time?
Braun Strowman is one of the most over superstars on the WWE roster. Since going solo mid-way through 2016, the former Wyatt Family member has gone from strength to strength and recently picked up the record for the most eliminations in a single Elimination Chamber match.
For the second year running, however, Braun Strowman is left without a clear road to this year’s WrestleMania. Despite his unquestionable popularity, Braun has been forced to play second fiddle to Roman Reigns over the last few months and as a result, has been left with no clear storyline heading into New Orleans.
All is not yet lost, however, and there are still six weeks left for the WWE to build Braun a suitable program for the big event. Whether this involves starting a new feud in the coming weeks or injecting Braun into a pre-existing program, it seems highly unlikely that the company would leave Braun with nothing to do on Apr. 8.
Let’s take a look at the most likely matches Braun Strowman could find himself in at WrestleMania 34.
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1: Intercontinental Multi-Man Match
Over the last several months, The Miz has found himself with various rumoured opponents for this year’s WrestleMania. Initial rumours had The Miz facing off against Finn Balor, only for several other sites to report that Braun would be the one squaring off with The Miz for the title at Mania.
On this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw, The Miz was defeated by both Seth Rollins and Finn Balor in separate matches, paving the way for what many fans believe will be a triple threat on the grandest stage of them all.
The match was not officially announced on Raw, though, and this could be for a number of reasons. Either, the WWE wants to have Balor face Rollins in a No. 1 contender match in the coming weeks, or the WWE is still toying with the idea of adding Braun to the bout. Rumours have begun to surface that the match may, in fact, be a fatal 5 way, with both Braun and Elias being added to the mix, which, given this week’s Raw main event, would make a lot of sense.
Braun would make for a great intercontinental champion, and it is about time the WWE rewarded his efforts with some gold. That being said, a run with the Intercontinental title could be seen as a step backwards for Braun, who has dominated Raw’s main event scene for the best part of the last 12 months.
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2: The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Nobody wants to see this happen, but fans would be foolish to rule it out. Despite the match being treated as nothing more than a pre-show warmer for the last couple of years, rumours are circulating that the WWE wants to put a lot of focus on this year’s Andre the Giant Battle Royal match.
With the release of an ESPN documentary about Andre the Giant on the horizon, the company are apparently, hoping to cash in on the documentary with this year’s match and, as a result, this year’s match will feature several big names. Reports breaking this week, however, suggest that the match may not even take place at all. The company have changed their stance on several matches this year, so for the moment, let’s just presume this is still on the card until they confirm otherwise.
One of those rumoured names is Hall of Fame inductee Bill Goldberg. If the WWE does decide to put the former Universal Champion in the match, then he will be in need of a legitimate challenger and looking at the current WWE roster, Braun Strowman is by far the best candidate.
Of course, if the WWE decides to put Braun in this match, then it would be an absolute travesty for him not to win it. Having Braun eliminate Goldberg to win the match would be a nice way to give the Monster Among Men his first WrestleMania moment, even if it is at the expense of a worthwhile feud.
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3: John Cena
Big match John’s WrestleMania storyline has focused primarily on his inability to carve a clear path for himself to WrestleMania 34. This story looks likely to culminate in a match with The Undertaker, with both men most likely putting their careers on the line.
What if the WWE is telling the truth about The Undertaker not wanting to return the ring though? This would leave Big Match John without a clear match at WrestleMania for the first time in well over a decade and there’s little to no chance that he is just going to remain off the card. Reports this week have suggested Rey Mysterio may step in and take on Cena in New Orleans, but this would be considered an underwhelming announcement by most fans.
Step forward, Braun Strowman. Strowman and Cena is a match-up waiting to happen. One that the fans would eat up and one that has to happen on a big show. The WWE wasted Cena’s first encounter with Roman Reigns by placing it on a B show, they would be foolish to do the same with Braun Vs Cena.
The match sets itself up as well, with Cena talking about how he is struggling to find an opponent, only for Braun to come to the ring and decimate him before pointing at the Mania sign.
Cena does a habit of burying up and coming stars at WrestleMania, though (see Rusev, Bray Wyatt), so it would be imperative that Braun picks up the victory in New Orleans. Braun has often come out on the losing end of his big matches, so it is about time he is paid back for all of those defeats.
4: Universal Title Match
Hands up, who was surprised when Roman pinned Braun Strowman to win the Elimination Chamber? Yeah, me neither. Brock Vs Reigns has been pencilled in for WrestleMania 34 since the end of last year’s show, and the transparent booking of the whole feud has further dampened a match that many fans didn’t want to see in the first place.
The solution to this problem is simple- add Braun to the match. Following the Elimination Chamber bout, Braun Strowman destroyed Roman Reigns, a move which many are speculating is because they are still toying with the idea of adding Braun to the match.
Roman seems destined to beat Lesnar for the belt at Mania, and if that is the case, the company can expect their biggest show of the year to close with a chorus of boos for the third year running.
History has shown us that, when they want to be, the WWE is smart enough to avoid such a scenario, and the addition of Braun Strowman to this match would be a very clever way to do that. Braun is massively over, and a run with the title seems certain to happen at some point.
WrestleMania 34 could be a coming out party for Braun, with The Monster Among Men overcoming two of the biggest, and baddest wrestlers in the WWE today to finally capture the belt that has eluded him for so long.
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5: Goldberg
Of all the matches on this list, this one is the least likely. Goldberg is set to headline this year’s WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, which, in recent years, has often led to some sort brief return for several superstars. As I mentioned earlier, there has been a lot of talk about the former Universal Champion appearing in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal match. If, however, reports about the match being scrapped are true, then the company might still try and tempt him into the ring for one more match against Strowman.
Braun deserves a marquee match at the event, and while the chances of him being included in the Universal or Intercontinental match seem to be growing by the day, it still remains highly likely that Vince will still opt to go with Roman and Brock in a singles bout in the headline slot, and may see this as a better option than the Intercontinental Title.
The great thing about a match like this is that it doesn’t need to be very long. Braun and Goldberg could just hit finishers from the opening bell, in the same way that Brock and Goldberg did at last year’s event. This would protect Goldberg, who likely wouldn’t be able to wrestle a longer match, and also make Braun look a million bucks.
Next: WrestleMania 34: Predicting the US Championship Match
Braun picking up such a big victory at WrestleMania could be seen as his crowning moment within the company, and in many ways, would be considered a passing of the torch moment, from one monster to another.