Is Braun Strowman working hurt? The decision to strap Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel left a lot of fans shaking their heads, and their fists, ...
The decision to strap Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel left a lot of fans shaking their heads, and their fists, at Vince McMahon and WWE. The rise of Braun Strowman is something a lot of people have been invested in for going on two years now. Why, with Roman Reigns sadly out for who knows how long, would they go back to Lesnar as Universal champion?
Well, Brock is a big name who gets Raw̢۪s top belt mentioned on UFC pay-per-view (PPV). But is there another reason?
One possibility was discussed on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio...
Bryan Alvarez: Remember when Raw was in Seattle I mentioned that Braun looked like he was limping down the ramp?
Dave Meltzer: Oh, I mentioned that the other day. Braun̢۪s knees are shot.
Alvarez: He can not move. And all throughout this show he had to chase guys.
Meltzer: I gotta tell you something. That was a huge mistake... He should not - they should know better than this... Braun Strowman, the second or third time he went out there, when he was running, he couldn’t - so the first time, when he tried to run, he was okay for a little while. I think he may have even hurt himself worse, but I knew that in Crown Jewel, when he walked down that ramp, I could just see that it’s like, ‘Oh my god, this guys’ knee’s shot.’ And I’m sure that bump that he took from that F5 over the top rope to the floor at 300-whatever pounds that he weighs, 380 pounds, there’s no way that that was a good idea.
But when he was running the last time [on Raw], it was barely a walk... do not book him in anything that requires movement, because, it’s like the whole aura was shooting right out of him, the aura of being a monster. He looked like one of those immobile dudes. It’s like, that’s not what you want your top guy to look like.â€
It̢۪s difficult to tell if that̢۪s based on information from one of The Observer̢۪s sources, or just an observation based on what we all saw on television. To dig a little deeper, I rewatched last night̢۪s final run and Braun̢۪s return on the Oct. 30 Raw last year to chase the Miztourage from a garbage truck (wrestling!).
Let me know what you think.
2017:
TDE Wrestling 2018:
He looks a little better chasing after Miz, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, but not enough for me to pronounce a sentence on the current health of his knees.
Injury concerns would help explain the Crown Jewel booking, however. If there̢۪s even a chance Strowman will need time off for scopes or surgery, a few months with Brock as champion while they figure that out and/or build Drew McIntyre up more makes sense.
We̢۪ll see how it̢۪s played, and if something more definitive comes our way from Meltzer or another outlet.
In the meantime, give us your diagnosis below, Cagesiders.
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