The feud between Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns took on new proportions on April 10, 2017, the week after WrestleMania 33.
Right in the middle of a backstage interview between Reigns and Michael Cole, Strowman came charging into the frame. He threw Reigns through a table. He power slammed him onto a set of transport cases. He rammed another transport case into his torso. Reigns, as one of the best sellers in the company, made every spot look painful.
And that was just the beginning. The beatdown continued for two more segments, and it climaxed with Strowman tipping over an ambulance--the same one that was supposed to transport Reigns to the hospital. The entire sequence was uploaded on WWE's YouTube channel, where it has amassed close to 18 million views.
It's one of the most memorable WWE segments of 2017, due in part to its context. The week prior, Reigns had defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. He was the second man to do so after Brock Lesnar. And after the match, The Undertaker laid his gloves, hat, and trenchcoat in the ring, giving the impression that he had retired.
For a subset of smarks--wrestling fans who are wise to the scripted, often political nature of professional wrestling--this was the worst thing that could possibly happen. Reigns had long been considered the inheritor of WWE's "top guy" status, a status that had previously been held by John Cena, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan. And to many wrestling fans, who felt that Reigns had the right look but not the requisite amount of in-ring or mic skill, this win over the Undertaker was another in a long line of undeserved victories, engineered to shove Reigns down fans' throats.
But now, even the casual fans hated him. Usually, despite having a vocal number of detractors, Reign is popular and well-liked to the wider audience. His merchandise sales are higher than those of any other full-time performer. But retiring The Undertaker was an unqualified, heel move; there was no one, not even Reigns fans, who would cosign that. And when Reigns showed up on the April 3 Raw after WrestleMania, the crowd booed him for ten full minutes.
WWE had a dilemma. They wanted the fans to accept Reigns as a babyface. But they had placed him in a situation where every single fan was calling for his head. There was no way they could send Reigns out to the ring to work a traditional babyface/heel angle, business as usual, and expect it to go well.
Instead, someone in WWE Creative had the brilliant idea to let Strowman pulverize Reigns in an over-the-top segment. It would keep Reigns as a sympathetic face. It would allow the WWE fans to live vicariously through Strowman and get the anger out of their systems. And it worked; the crowd's reaction throughout the segment sounds cathartic.
But something unexpected happened. In the process of preserving Reigns' top star status, they created a future top star in Strowman. Strowman was well-liked prior to this; it's always fun to watch a monster destroy four jobbers at the same time. But the love took on a different tenor afterwards. Strowman became an antihero in the vein of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin; if someone was in his way, that person was The Enemy, regardless if that person was scripted as a babyface or heel. In an era where WWE overproduces the most basic elements of its shows, Strowman felt spontaneous, non-PG, and most importantly of all, fun.
And in the weeks and months after his ambulance-tipping antics, Strowman became a human highlight reel.
He's beaten Roman Reigns down on
--and his odd comedic timing.
Consider yourself the luckiest person on the face of the .
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse)
Meanwhile, Roman Reigns is getting more cheers now than he has in two years. He's been back with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose since October, which means he gets to do all his signature Shield spots. Nostalgia is a powerful commodity.
For the past year, it's been heavily rumored that the main event of WrestleMania 34 will be Roman Reigns versus Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. But it's not too late to change things around. Strowman has a shot to win the Universal title from Lesnar at the Royal Rumble this upcoming Sunday, January 28. And Roman Reigns will be entering the Royal Rumble match itself, which guarantees a title match at WrestleMania for the winner.
What if they were to both win their respective matches? The crowd would turn on Reigns, hard; the last time he won the Royal Rumble in 2015, even The Rock couldn't save him from being booed. And the crowd would also simultaneously embrace Strowman, wholeheartedly, as their new champion. He's been building to a complete face turn for quite some time.
The main event of WrestleMania should be Roman Reigns versus Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship. Reigns can be the corporate heel, handpicked by WWE for greatness. And Strowman can be the antihero babyface, constantly in trouble with The Authority and fighting for respect. It would be a Rock vs. Austin style feud that would draw a ton of money.
It's ironic that in the process of tediously scripting Reigns' rise to the top, WWE stumbled across an even better main event storyline without even trying. The company needs to roll with it instead of sticking to the original plan.
Over the past 12 months, Reigns and Strowman have defined each other's careers. Booked properly, a violent, uncompromising match between the two at WrestleMania could redefine the WWE itself.
Right in the middle of a backstage interview between Reigns and Michael Cole, Strowman came charging into the frame. He threw Reigns through a table. He power slammed him onto a set of transport cases. He rammed another transport case into his torso. Reigns, as one of the best sellers in the company, made every spot look painful.
And that was just the beginning. The beatdown continued for two more segments, and it climaxed with Strowman tipping over an ambulance--the same one that was supposed to transport Reigns to the hospital. The entire sequence was uploaded on WWE's YouTube channel, where it has amassed close to 18 million views.
It's one of the most memorable WWE segments of 2017, due in part to its context. The week prior, Reigns had defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. He was the second man to do so after Brock Lesnar. And after the match, The Undertaker laid his gloves, hat, and trenchcoat in the ring, giving the impression that he had retired.
For a subset of smarks--wrestling fans who are wise to the scripted, often political nature of professional wrestling--this was the worst thing that could possibly happen. Reigns had long been considered the inheritor of WWE's "top guy" status, a status that had previously been held by John Cena, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan. And to many wrestling fans, who felt that Reigns had the right look but not the requisite amount of in-ring or mic skill, this win over the Undertaker was another in a long line of undeserved victories, engineered to shove Reigns down fans' throats.
But now, even the casual fans hated him. Usually, despite having a vocal number of detractors, Reign is popular and well-liked to the wider audience. His merchandise sales are higher than those of any other full-time performer. But retiring The Undertaker was an unqualified, heel move; there was no one, not even Reigns fans, who would cosign that. And when Reigns showed up on the April 3 Raw after WrestleMania, the crowd booed him for ten full minutes.
WWE had a dilemma. They wanted the fans to accept Reigns as a babyface. But they had placed him in a situation where every single fan was calling for his head. There was no way they could send Reigns out to the ring to work a traditional babyface/heel angle, business as usual, and expect it to go well.
Instead, someone in WWE Creative had the brilliant idea to let Strowman pulverize Reigns in an over-the-top segment. It would keep Reigns as a sympathetic face. It would allow the WWE fans to live vicariously through Strowman and get the anger out of their systems. And it worked; the crowd's reaction throughout the segment sounds cathartic.
But something unexpected happened. In the process of preserving Reigns' top star status, they created a future top star in Strowman. Strowman was well-liked prior to this; it's always fun to watch a monster destroy four jobbers at the same time. But the love took on a different tenor afterwards. Strowman became an antihero in the vein of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin; if someone was in his way, that person was The Enemy, regardless if that person was scripted as a babyface or heel. In an era where WWE overproduces the most basic elements of its shows, Strowman felt spontaneous, non-PG, and most importantly of all, fun.
And in the weeks and months after his ambulance-tipping antics, Strowman became a human highlight reel.
He's beaten Roman Reigns down on
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. And recently, the fans' cheers have gotten even louder, especially since he's
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with the same frequency that he's beating up babyfaces. This past week, after being "fired" from Raw, Strowman tore the backstage area apart, showing off both his brutality----and his odd comedic timing.
Consider yourself the luckiest person on the face of the .
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— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse)
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Meanwhile, Roman Reigns is getting more cheers now than he has in two years. He's been back with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose since October, which means he gets to do all his signature Shield spots. Nostalgia is a powerful commodity.
For the past year, it's been heavily rumored that the main event of WrestleMania 34 will be Roman Reigns versus Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. But it's not too late to change things around. Strowman has a shot to win the Universal title from Lesnar at the Royal Rumble this upcoming Sunday, January 28. And Roman Reigns will be entering the Royal Rumble match itself, which guarantees a title match at WrestleMania for the winner.
What if they were to both win their respective matches? The crowd would turn on Reigns, hard; the last time he won the Royal Rumble in 2015, even The Rock couldn't save him from being booed. And the crowd would also simultaneously embrace Strowman, wholeheartedly, as their new champion. He's been building to a complete face turn for quite some time.
The main event of WrestleMania should be Roman Reigns versus Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship. Reigns can be the corporate heel, handpicked by WWE for greatness. And Strowman can be the antihero babyface, constantly in trouble with The Authority and fighting for respect. It would be a Rock vs. Austin style feud that would draw a ton of money.
It's ironic that in the process of tediously scripting Reigns' rise to the top, WWE stumbled across an even better main event storyline without even trying. The company needs to roll with it instead of sticking to the original plan.
Over the past 12 months, Reigns and Strowman have defined each other's careers. Booked properly, a violent, uncompromising match between the two at WrestleMania could redefine the WWE itself.
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