5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (August 31)
Doppelgängers, Twitter anger, and commentary clangers.
We saw the warning signs, but failed to heed them.
Braun Strowman was - was - a superb act in the context of sports entertainment. He embodied it; he was an entertainment machine and tour de force, able to wrestle blinding power-based WWE-style matches at Great Scott speed and credibly perform preposterous stunts. He tipped over a godd*mn ambulance last year. Obviously, the thing was rigged, but we marvelled at the sight of the spot, anyway, because our babyface hero Roman Reigns was trapped inside of it.
That's WWE for you.
Then, WWE experimented with the character. He dressed up like Elf, but it was some non-canon dot com sh*te, so it wasn't that bad. Strowman actually displayed comedic chops too, which WWE then preyed upon. On reflection, he should have sabotaged himself, because he then became 'Brains Strowman' and subsequently tagged with a small child. This didn't inspire too much derision, because it was Braun. He could get anything over, and because of that, he has now been tasked with getting Roman Reigns over.
Everything circles back to the Big Dog...
5. That's Your Great Babyface Hope Turned Heel, Then
On Monday's RAW, Braun Strowman turned heel, and in the process, WWE ruined the one nexus point between the office and the public.
Strowman teamed with Roman Reigns in the main event, and, in a spot of typical WWE telegraphing, spent the entire time feigning that he was desperate to help out his struggling partner. He then tagged in, only to not do anything, and then joined forces with and raised the hands of fellow heels Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. This sent an on-the-nose message:
"We're not presenting nuanced characters, though last week was confusing, granted. Braun is a heel now. Here he is chumming with fellow baddies".
WWE, seemingly, were left with no other option for the autumn months - and that is because they've buried all the other heels on RAW, and Constable Corbin isn't good enough for a title programme. That's the same Constable Corbin who appears on RAW more than Michael Cole talks on it. So, in effect, WWE is both pushing a guy they know d*mn well isn't good enough, while also signing the best wrestlers on the planet just so they won't push them. It's all so f*cking backwards, man.
To get Roman Reigns over as a babyface, WWE has...
- Had The Rock endorse him.
- Had Daniel Bryan endorse him.
- Had Seth Rollins steal his big moment :(.
- Had Sheamus steal his big moment :(.
- Had Triple H put him over at WrestleMania.
- Had The Undertaker put him over at WrestleMania.
- Fed Bray Wyatt, Rusev, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and two complete tag teams to him, among others.
- Gave Brock Lesnar X-Pac heat to get him over by doing the bare minimum of his job remit...
...and he still isn't The Guy. What could WWE possibly do at this point?
Honestly - and this isn't me being facetious, I can't think of anything else - just pay CM Punk to make a surprise appearance on RAW, only to say that he'll only come back properly if the fans cheer Roman for a solid year.