We at America’s White Boy are huge fans of the WWE and professional wrestling as a whole. I myself have been a fan since I can remember. I went to my first show when I was barely old enough to go to school.
We like to write about the potential of either new wrestlers or new stables. We wrote something about The Wyatt Family a few years ago and after a failed attempt by the WWE to break up the stable, they are now stronger than ever. They have recently added a new wrestler to the ‘family’, Braun Strowman.
He’s huge (6’8) and a former strongman. He has all the makings of a future monster in the WWE.
Strowman is an anomaly in the ‘NXT Era’ since he never appeared on NXT television, but did work house shows and train at the WWE Performance Center.
I have a theory about how Strowman was called up to WWE without appearing on NXT television. Well, Triple H has a much larger role in signing new wrestlers these days. If you’re young or have a ‘look’, Triple H goes ahead and signs that person to a developmental contract. Vince apparently doesn’t really know or care about what’s going on down there since Triple H is running things. Well, my theory is that Strowman just happened to visit a WWE television taping and Vince saw him and made this face…
Vince loves giants and since most of his reliable giants like Big Show, Kane and the Undertaker are getting older, he’s in need for a new monster. Strowman definitely looks the part of a monster.
This is the issue I have with Strowman…he never appeared on NXT television. NXT is so hot right now that Vince can call up just about anyone and he would have the ‘smart marks’ in their pocket. A top-tier superstar needs to be accepted by the hardcore fans. A lot of the approval comes from experience. If a wrestler is being shoved down the fans throat without really ‘earning his dues’, fans will often reject that person.
Roman Reigns has been called up for a few years now and he’s still dealing with earning the respect of the hardcore fans. It’s a weird thing to describe, since it doesn’t exactly happen in any other sport or entertainment platform. I guess the closest comparison is when someone is cast as a superhero in a DC or Marvel movie, just read the comments made by fans online. You have fans saying what a great casting that is and then you have fans that are extremely pissed off they hired that actor. That actor really needs to knock it out of the park to earn the negative fan’s adoration.
Strowman hasn’t shown much ring prowess since he’s been called up. He has just played the monster role and immediately squashes anyone he faces. It will take a one-on-one match with someone else large for him to show off some skills.
It’s hard to predict the long-term success of a wrestler based on just a few months with very little in-ring action. I do know that Vince and his machine will push him as strong as possible. Maybe they know something we don’t and the guy is a fluid and powerful in-ring performer. I wish him the best and hope something huge comes from his call-up…because the WWE needs all hands on deck for Wrestlemania 32.
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.