Braun Strowman may be the next Roman Reigns

WWE Crown Jewel was a bad show, not only because of the circumstances surrounding it but because it simply wasn’t entertaining as a wrestling event. Part of that was related to Brock Lesnar winning the Universal championship by defeating Braun Strowman after five different F-5’s, one of which went over the top rope. That was it. That was the entirety of the match.

Oh, and Baron Corbin hit Strowman with a cheap shot before the bell. That’s a significant detail, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, because the idea all along wasn’t to beat Strowman in a short match but to unfairly overwhelm him so he could valiantly survive longer than any man can reasonably be expected to.

We’ve seen this story before.

Indeed, it’s close to exactly what they did with Lesnar and Roman Reigns, who was pinned after surviving the same number of F-5’s, just without the pre-match cheap shot at WrestleMania 34. He was then “screwed” at Greatest Royal Rumble before finally vanquishing Lesnar at SummerSlam.

Meltzer also reported Strowman is the next up for Lesnar following his match against AJ Styles at Survivor Series, either at Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 35. It’s there that he’ll either win the title, or be screwed, or eat a bunch of finishers, lose, and have his title win held off until later. This is the playbook they used with Reigns, so no outcome would be surprising.

The question, then, is whether or not Strowman is ready to carry the torch as the top guy in WWE. Assuming they stick to the plan, we may find out soon enough.