My Friday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is all about Braun Strowman and his career in WWE. Here’s an excerpt:
Braun Strowman has a bright future as a heel in WWE.
His imposing size and brute strength are great starting points for his WWE career. The size isn’t going anywhere. It now is all about teaching him how to use it in the most effective way possible inside the ring.
Strowman already is showing noticeable improvement after being on WWE’s main roster for only a year. Before his debut with The Wyatt Family in August 2015, he never had a televised match in NXT, and his number of matches was limited.
He has been put in the express lane of learning and is handling it well. On top of having probably fewer than 100 matches in his career, Strowman has to combat the harsh arm-chair critics who have a prejudice against big guys in WWE. Message board banter complained about Vince McMahon liking only bigger guys.
Pro wrestling is a body business. It’s a circus. It’s entertainment. In all of those, someone who stands out, particularly with size, is a commodity to turn into the best performer possible. It doesn’t mean guys under 6-foot tall are worthless, but size is an attention-getter.
A guy like Strowman doesn’t grow on trees, so when WWE gets one, of course he is going to be a priority — even if it means skipping ahead of those who have been around longer.
With Strowman’s size and ideas of what his style should be in the ring, he shouldn’t have to hit the mat as much. And not having to do as much in the ring can be a blessing. Get more reaction out of less. Bump less, preserve your body and be around longer. Be around longer and make more money. It’s a winning formula.
Again, the fast-paced work rate that is so popular among a sect of the audience has its place but not without a lot of risk and some believability questions as a down side.
There have been size guys in pro wrestling who possessed only one talent, and that was standing next to a tape measure. After that, they couldn’t do much. Giant Gonzalez comes to mind. Go watch WrestleMania 9 as a young Undertaker had to make that match work as best as he could. Yikes!
Strowman won’t fall into this category. He listens very well to his peers and takes each match as a learning experience. His athleticism was on display for the finish of his match last Monday on RAW as he ran into the ring behind Sin Cara and caught him mid-air within a matter of seconds.
The former powerlifter has been on a run of squash matches, and many are waiting to see how he does whenever he moves into his first real feud and competitive match. Three names come to mind for different reasons.
The first is Roman Reigns.
Love him or hate him, you have an opinion about Reigns. Everyone does, and that is evident in the reaction he gets when his music plays. The guarantee is if you put Reigns as Strowman’s first legitimate opponent with some build-up to the match, you know the arena won’t be quiet. People will be engaged.
WWE’s hope would be Strowman is getting no cheers thus far and that heel persona will carry on and allow more to rally behind Reigns. This has worked in the past when Reigns has fought someone like Sheamus, another true heel who gets no “cool bad guy” adulation.
CLICK HERE for the other 2 possible opponents for Strowman.
