WWE: Why Braun Strowman Should Remain A Babyface

The WWE has often been called the land of the giants, but no recent giant has had as big of an impact as Braun Strowman has had over the past nearly two years.

The Monster Among Men has been on the rise for over a year now in the WWE and despite a few ups and downs in that timeframe creatively, his momentum is still at a near record high heading into the final three months of 2018.

Strowman began developing into a main eventer in the summer of 2017 and even got a headline match with Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at No Mercy 2017, but after a lackluster match and loss, his direction began fading a bit.

It wouldn’t take the WWE long to get him back on track and since WrestleMania 34 where he won the Raw Tag Team Championship with the legend known as Nicholas, Strowman has been eyeing bigger and better things.  He captured the Money in the Bank briefcase back in June and seems destined for Universal Championship success in the future.

After almost cashing in two straight nights at SummerSlam and then the next night on Raw, Strowman announced he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank opportunity at Hell In A Cell against Roman Reigns inside the demonic structure itself.  But the most recent edition of Raw saw The Monster Among Men potentially turn back to the dark side and it has fans talking.

The only reason Strowman didn’t successfully cash in Money in the Bank the night after SummerSlam was because of The Shield’s interference, so he decided to get revenge on Reigns by turning on him during their tag team match against Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.

Strowman let Ziggler and McIntyre double team The Big Dog before getting in on the beatdown as well and despite their best efforts, Reigns’ Shield brothers Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were unable to save Reigns this time and they took a beating as well before Strowman held the hands of Ziggler and McIntyre high after their work was done.

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This certainly appears as if it was a heel turn for Strowman, but is this the appropriate move?  It all but certainly has to do with trying to get Reigns over as a babyface and make him look like a babyface that can overcome the odds.  But if the WWE thinks this is the way to go about doing that, the company will be sadly mistaken.

The biggest babyface reaction Reigns has gotten in recent memory has been because of his feud with Lesnar, an individual fans genuinely don’t like not only on-screen, but in real life as well.  In the case of Strowman, fans adore him on-screen and he has no issues off-screen that fans gripe about.  It just doesn’t seem logical to sacrifice Strowman’s babyface momentum for the sake of getting The Big Dog over as a babyface.

Granted, Strowman does a lot of things that resemble heel actions, but there’s no denying the reaction he gets every time he enters an arena.  He is super over with the WWE universe as a babyface and in today’s landscape of pro wrestling, that’s something you just don’t mess with because so many superstars have failed to get over as a babyface despite the company’s best efforts.

Vince McMahon has had to learn the hard way that when creative tries to make fans like a certain superstar or dislike a certain superstar, it doesn’t go well these days.  The same mistake has been made with Reigns over the past few years and while he is undeniably over, he is not, and likely will never be, the top babyface that the WWE wants him to be.

Having Strowman as a heel after all the babyface momentum he has been building over the past few months seems like a step in the wrong direction because inevitably, it will end with another failed attempt to make Reigns a beloved babyface and subsequently, a loss to The Big Dog.  If the WWE doesn’t capitalize on what Strowman can do as a main eventer, Vince and company threaten to derail his momentum altogether.

Not to mention, if Strowman remains a babyface, that opens the door for other potential top heels on the red brand to battle Reigns that wouldn’t normally be in that position.  Guys like McIntyre, Ziggler, Kevin Owens, and others could greatly benefit from the chance to compete as a top heel for the Universal Championship and the potential for more fitting heel turns is present as well.

If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it and The Monster Among Men as a babyface doesn’t need to be fixed just to push the agenda of WWE management to make Reigns something fans don’t want him to be.