Chris King’s What If: Braun Strowman At The Top Of WWE In 2017

Chris King asks a huge “What If” for Braun Strowman in his feud with Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship in 2017!

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of speculation and rumors about ‘The Monster Among Men’ Braun Strowman returning to WWE and facing ’The Ruler’ Oba Femi. The possibility of this match would be a colossal clash of titans for the ages. It’s  got me thinking about one of my biggest what-ifs in the past decade: What if Strowman defeated ‘The Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship back in 2017? 

Strowman made his shocking debut as ‘The Black Sheep’ of The Wyatt Family in 2015. Immediately, the giant was thrown into the sea with some of the biggest names in WWE, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Chris Jericho. It wasn’t until he was separated from The Wyatt Family in the 2016 draft that his freakish speed and athleticism were on full display on Monday Night Raw. 

Strowman began obliterating enhancement talent as well as James Ellsworth on a weekly basis. The loveable Sami Zayn stood up to the monster. The two competed in a ten-minute limit match at Roadblock, where Zayn would survive. Their feud would culminate in a last man standing match on an episode of Raw, where he would dominate his rival. The Monster Among Men shocked the world by interfering at the Royal Rumble, costing Reigns the Universal Title. 

Strowman and Reigns would have one of the most brutal and dangerous feuds, with the two rivals absolutely destroying each other at the Great Balls of Fire PLE, where he won the match. Winning wasn’t enough for ‘The Big Dog,’ as he tried to kill him by running the ambulance into a semi-truck with Strowman inside. The WWE Universe was fully behind The Monster, and their approval gave him his spot in the fatal-four-way Universal Championship match at SummerSlam. 

He absolutely annihilated Lesnar, delivering his Running Powerslam through two announce tables and burying the champion through the last one. Lesnar was stretchered out of the arena but came back to barely retain his title. The Monster Among Men would finally get his one-on-one match with Lesnar at No Mercy for the universal championship. At the PLE, Strowman dominated The Beast early on and truly showed the world what he was capable of, but just like many of Lesnar’s matches, he delivered one F5 to retain his title. 

Strowman’s monster push started off with a huge roar synonymous with his entrance music and ended in a whimper. The WWE Universe wanted The Monster Among Men to be the one to dethrone The Beast, but Vince McMahon only wanted one man to do that, Reigns. Had Strowman won the Universal Championship, he would have had a fantastic rest of the year and possibly a massive WrestleMania 34. Reigns won his “dream match” against John Cena at No Mercy and, despite the crowd’s displeasure, he would have challenged Strowman for the Universal Title over the next few months. 

The Beast Incarnate would take his yearly vacation until the road to WrestleMania 34 and demand his much-anticipated rematch against Strowman in a colossal match. The Monster Among Men could survive a slew of German suplexes and six or seven F5’s and defeat Lesnar on the grandest stage of them all. After a successful title defense, Samoa Joe has challenged The Monster for a universal championship match at Backlash. 

Joe and Strowman could have battled over the top prize on the Monday Night Raw roster until the summer, where a familiar foe reemerged. SummerSlam can end the same way as it actually does in reality with ‘The Big Dog’ winning the universal championship against Strowman in an epic battle. 

We can dive into fantasy land as much as we want, but the reality of the story is, The Monster Among Men was the hottest superstar in 2017-2018. In my opinion, he deserved to dethrone Lesnar and be the Universal Champion. 

The only time Strowman was given his true shot at becoming WWE champion was back during Covid when Reigns was missing. Had Reigns never had another leukemia scare in 2018, who knows if Strowman would have ever been given his chance at being the top star in WWE? 

While WWE is under new leadership with Triple H as head of creative, the last time The Monster was in WWE, he wasn’t booked correctly as a top-tier superstar and ultimately left the company because of salary reasons. I would love to see The Monster Among Men return to the WWE and battle Femi, but I fear the same fate may happen for his career.