7 Questions We're Asking After WWE Payback 2017
2. Has Anyone Improved Faster Than Braun Strowman?
When Braun Strowman first debuted as a member of The Wyatt Family, he drew the ire of the fanbase for getting to skip the requisite tour of duty in NXT. Looking like a giant bearded baby, he was despised by the IWC who chalked his fast-tracking up to nothing more than his intimidating stature. He was resented for being gifted a spot on the main roster while more talented workers remained stuck in developmental.
Once the former strongman competitor was separated from Bray and his other followers he began his slow build. Braun's weekly jobber squash was a highlight of Raw, even if it did give us the annoyance that is James Ellsworth, and we were able to watch him grow as a performer in real time.
As he was put in feuds with established workers like Sami Zayn it gave him a chance to gain much-needed experience he wasn't getting tossing around local nobodies like garbage bags. Eventually it got to the point that WWE felt he was ready to place in high profile programs, and his war with Roman Reigns has done wonders for him.
Strowman beat the everloving sh*t out of The Big Dog, walking into his "yard" and dropping a deuce right in the middle of it. Despite commentary's best efforts to sell us on Roman's prior injuries and the fact that he wasn't "even close to 100%", Braun took all of Reigns' signature offense, shrugged it off and pinned Roman clean.
A dose of post-match savagery left Reigns bloody and battered. As WWE attempted to garner sympathy for Raw's top "babyface", the crowd filled the arena with a chorus of "Thank you, Strowman", and as Reigns was attended to by EMTs he was serenaded with "You deserve it." It was such beautiful display of violence that Renee Young was "literally shaking" when discussing it on Raw Talk.
Just a few months ago, the idea that Braun Strowman could main event a PPV - and be immensely entertaining while doing so - was absurd. Not only has he improved by leaps and bounds, but he's got a real chance to be a gigantic star for WWE,
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