Braun Strowman getting used as a circus act at Wrestlemania.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Last year, we all speculated who Braun Strowman was going to tag up with, he was at a simmering hot time where the fans reacted to everything he did, and why not? He was huge, flipping ambulances, running in and destroying boring ass matches, it was refreshing to have a monster roaming around WWE again. But then he went into the crowds...and got a ten year old to tag with him. Since then he's been an upper card competitor with a shot at Brock here and there, only to lose quickly with one F5. Anyway, here we are a year later, bring in these baseball players...(no, SNL people Jeff, you haven't watched SNL in years? Shame on you) .
..to goof off, now Braun chokes one on a wall, then the week after he goes Street Fighter 2 Bonus stage on a car presented to him by the SNL guys. So I'm assuming its some kind of awkward handicap match at Mania with Strowman now? Or he just chases them around the arena for 6 or 7 hours, destroying everything in his path?

Braun Strowman deserves a little bit better than The Big Show treatment at Manias now.

[Y 2 Jake]

He is a comedy character, I suppose.

[Alex]

Isn't that the lifespan of a monster wrestler though?

Kick ass in the midcard, move up to the main event kick more ass, have a few title shots (sometimes win but lose relatively soon after) fall back to midcard, do some comedy bits, rinse and repeat.

Big Show's done it, Kane's done it, Khali did it, Mark Henry did it. In fact the only one who hasn't is Undertaker.

If Strowman can weather the storm he'll be back to being a serious contender at some point and maybe finally win the title

[EnviousDominous]

I'm pretty sure that Undertaker's week long reign as WWF champion back in 1991 applies to this trope, he only won as a way to push a feud between Hogan and Flair, and he was squashed by Hogan in the rematch.

Let's not forget Earthquake, Giant Gonzales/El Gigante, King Kong Bundy, Yokozuna (lost the belt because his foot slipped), Kurrgan, Brodus Clay, and Matt Morgan.

There's something to seeing a giant dude being forced to react to a comical occurrence. In this case, a comedian who admittedly knows very little about pro-wrestling attempts to make nice with Braun by giving him a present.

Braun's act is getting stale, and he's going to have to evolve the whole "get these hands" thing if he's going to be popular enough to win a world title.

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't know if this is true or not, so take it for what it's worth, but there've been various reports that've come out now and again stating that Strowman basically gets in his own way. Again, it may well be crap and I don't remember reading about any specifics, but Strowman has been said to repeatedly garner heat with Vince for unprofessional behavior backstage and said heat is responsible for why he ultimately never became Universal Champion.

I don't know if any of these alleged issues involved dress code violations, if he was telling raunchy jokes with sexist or racial overtones that pissed someone off, if he's been disrespectful and gotten into altercations with others, if he's just simply loud and obnoxious or what. It just strikes me as very odd that WWE didn't pull the trigger with Strowman when he was and had been the most popular babyface on Raw for much of last year; he's a powerhouse of a man, he has a great & unique look, has personality, had the fans eating out of the palm of his hand, etc.. He's still really popular and could easily be back main eventing, but he's definitely cooled off since Crown Jewel and all the nonsense with Baron Corbin.

[Slyfox696]

I don't know if this is true or not, so take it for what it's worth, but there've been various reports that've come out now and again stating that Strowman basically gets in his own way. Again, it may well be crap and I don't remember reading about any specifics, but Strowman has been said to repeatedly garner heat with Vince for unprofessional behavior backstage and said heat is responsible for why he ultimately never became Universal Champion.

I don't know if any of these alleged issues involved dress code violations, if he was telling raunchy jokes with sexist or racial overtones that pissed someone off, if he's been disrespectful and gotten into altercations with others, if he's just simply loud and obnoxious or what. It just strikes me as very odd that WWE didn't pull the trigger with Strowman when he was and had been the most popular babyface on Raw for much of last year; he's a powerhouse of a man, he has a great & unique look, has personality, had the fans eating out of the palm of his hand, etc.. He's still really popular and could easily be back main eventing, but he's definitely cooled off since Crown Jewel and all the nonsense with Baron Corbin.

It really is the only logical explanation. Strowman was white hot for a while and the fans were hanging on everything he did. It never made sense to me that they never pulled the trigger on Strowman.

[Sufferin' Succotash]

The only time he really had the crowd behind him was when he was beating the hell out of Roman every week. There isn't really much appeal to him unless he's breaking something, which can only be fun to see for so long. Doing something funny/silly at WrestleMania is all he can do right now.

[smarkmouth]

The only time he really had the crowd behind him was when he was beating the hell out of Roman every week.

That's wildly inaccurate. I won't deny that destroying Roman every week is what first endeared him to many, but he was getting these same pops when he was chasing down the Miztourage and no-selling Brock's German Suplexes. He lost those pops when the aura of invulnerability was shed along with the random heel turn that benefited only the SHIELD.

I have to agree with Sly. It must be something behind the scenes because they had several real opportunities to put the belt on Strowman which are pretty much all spent now.