There is a very real problem with how WWE treats wins and losses. The idea at Clash of Champions was easy enough to see: Seth Rollins beat Braun Strowman to retain the Universal championship but it took everything he had and then some to defeat “The Monster.” This has become the norm for Strowman. He is big, and strong, and therefore difficult to defeat. Because of this, I guess, he is somehow always worthy of an opportunity, even if his actual story is that of failure.
That’s the thing about it, too. A loss is, by its very nature, devaluing. It means being lesser than, even if only for that particular match, on that particular night. Strowman, then, is lesser than the top stars he continues losing to in the big matches because, again, he’s losing to them. It does not matter that it takes a lot for them to defeat him, the end result is the same.
It’s clear those in power value him quite a bit but every time he’s given something of a sustained push, they decide not to pull the trigger right when they get to the finish line. As others have pointed out, he has tried and failed to win the Universal championship on six separate occasions over the past two years.
In order to keep the monster, well, a monster, you have to feed him when he’s not losing title matches. Here’s how that took form on Monday Night Raw this week:
Call me crazy, but I’m having trouble with seeing a lot of value in this approach. Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler and The Revival won the Raw and SmackDown tag team titles, respectively, at Clash of Champions and their very first act as champions was getting completely run over — at the same time, no less — by one guy. A guy who is, again, a failure. The attempt at masking that fact is appropriate but the manner in which they’ve gone about doing so devalues four champions all at once.
There is a way to keep Strowman strong while also ensuring the champions of an entire division aren’t tossed aside in the process.
Maybe next time.