Braun Strowman’s always been a cartoon character.
He started out as a kind of goofy but still generally badass cartoon character for all ages, but for several years now he’s clearly been marketed at the kids. If I had to pinpoint it, I’d probably officially mark the change in direction at when he emerged from apparently spending a week in the trash truck Miz tried to kill him in. But that was in the midst of a lot of failed title attempts, so I may be confusing generally cooling him off for when he was went from an ‘T for Teen’ rating to an ‘E for Everyone’. By the time he and some kid won the Tag titles at WrestleMania 34, it was in full effect.
There have been some attempts to try to get fans to take Braun seriously since, but they’ve been half-hearted and unsuccessful. With his current program with Shane McMahon, they’re fully committing to the all-ages fun.
Need proof? They added train sounds to the spot where he runs around outside the ring and shoulder blocks everyone in site...
braun train sounds! choo choo! this is the funniest non-fiend thing in forever. pic.twitter.com/DfRhA7Q6Vo
— BossMoz (@BossMoz) March 23, 2021
In case you doubt the veracity of that tweet, here’s the official WWE clip cued up to the start of Jaxson Ryker & Elias’ ride on the Strowman Express...
That is some goofy $#!+. 10 year old me would love it though. And, you know, jaded old me hasn’t even been able to have much ironic fun with Strowman’s character since 2018, and I laugh every time I watch this, so...
All aboard?