Lately, Monday nights have been the Braun Strowman show. And coming into Raw on May 1, WWE was touting another episode focused on whether or not anyone could stop the Monster Among Men.
Strowman was curiously absent from the proceedings one night after defeating Roman Reigns at Payback, however. And when General Manager Kurt Angle came to the ring to provide an injury update on the main eventers from last night’s pay-per-view (PPV), we may have found out why.
It was expected WWE would continue an injury angle with Reigns. His entire upper body was taped up from his last run-in with Strowman, and he was spitting up blood when last we saw him.
What was unexpected was Angle’s revelation that Braun suffered a “torn rotator cuff”. WWE has since confirmed the GM’s statement in a story on their website.
The possibilty exists the injuries to both men are storyline, and done to drag out their program. Angle reported both men stated they weren’t done with each other when he spoke to them.
.@BraunStrowman & @WWERomanReigns have each made 1 thing clear to #RAW GM @RealKurtAngle... they're NOT done with each other! pic.twitter.com/O1QXPaJqlq
— WWE (@WWE) May 2, 2017
Another possibility, however, is that Strowman is really hurt. The way Raw was booked tonight kind of felt like they were stalling before setting up the Universal title, or any other major angle, for their new star. Supporting that theory - “torn rotator cuff” is not something WWE usually uses for a kayfabe injury, and shoulder damage is certainly plausible when you consider Braun hit the ambulance door hard enough to rip it from its hinges last night in San Jose.
WWE described this as an “ongoing, escalating situation” - and that feels like a shoot.
Stay tuned.