At what point do Braun naysayers make retractions

[blueskyy]

I wasn't a Strowman naysayer. I'm a Sami Zayn naysayer. Not your typical wrestling fan, am I.

 

[ShinChan]

I was never a naysayer of Braun Strowman. Infact, I was neutral because I was neither impressed nor disappointed by him.

The latest stint on Raw has made me like him. He isn't as green as people make him out to be. He's nowhere near bad in the ring and everyone should accept that he isn't bad for sure. He's like a breath of fresh air in Raw's main event scene and I must commend WWE for protecting him as smartly as possible.

People were criticising him even before he showed off his skills. Remember when Strowman Vs. Undertaker was rumored?

 

[Wildcat66]

I'm digging Braun right now. He's certainly come a long way from where he started as. He got a lot more comfortable in his role as the unstoppable monster during his time of RAW and that has made him look more natural in the process.

His ring skills, while not perfect are also showing major improvement; I mean, he managed to carry Big Show to a good match. That's pretty impressive coming from a supposedly green rookie.

I'm predicting that he'll be a world champion by next year if not sooner.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Strowman has really impressed me over the course of this year so far. He's come a long way, much farther than many of us expected. In this day & age, fans being heavily invested in and liking a match featuring two men close to 400 lbs. is a rarity, but that rarity happened on Raw this past Monday. A huge reason for that is because I think most fans have enjoyed the way Strowman's been used, booked and protected.

I have to admit that I was surprised to see Strowman perform a kip up on Monday, I've never seen it from anyone remotely close to his size and while it's hardly some game changer, it shows that Strowman has the potential to be more than your typical superheavyweight bruiser.

If Strowman isn't someone's cup of tea, that's perfectly understandable as that's simply how it is for every wrestler out there. However, it's becoming extremely difficult to say that the man outright sucks and have some credibility. Strowman is never going to be out there giving 20 minute promos, nor should he, he's not going to be the next Rock, nor should he try to be. What Strowman has the potential to be is what we haven't really seen since the peak of Vader's career: a truly great superheavyweight. Of course, a lot of that boils down to how he'll be used over the years and how he ultimately withstands the test of time.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I was a pretty big naysayer of Braun Strowman. I noted that he was another generic big man following the predictable formula of Umaga, Vladimir Kozlov, Heidenreich, The Great Khali, Rusev, etc. When they make their debuts, they remain on the main roster for the first six months dominating and looking strong. Then, all of that build-up gets flushed down the toilet because they can't beat that one top guy they need to beat in order to cement their dominance. After that one defeat, it's like the sandcastle crumbles and it's not like they go back to dominating or even getting a rematch win. No, they become jobbers to just about everyone. It's a stain that never leaves the memory no matter what rectification they try to come up with. That's how I truly felt about Braun Strowman. He didn't impress me in any way. Big man moves? Yawn, seen it before and with better talent such as Bam Bam Bigelow. Show of strength? Again, seen it multiple times before. What is he bringing to the table that is new or distinctive? I can't really say. However, I do see a glimmer of improvement. I don't know exactly where. I think it's with the way he carries himself and the little things that he does. It's not the moves and it's not the promos. I think it's with certain mannerisms. I don't know yet. All I know is that I'm not so much a complete naysayer, but just really neutral in that area where I don't necessarily feel like he's bad, but also still not convinced he's good. Maybe the development is a really slow one and he'll surprise me somewhere down the road.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Theres a segment of the fan base that will not budge from their original opinion of something. They think changing their opinion is somehow admitting they were "wrong".

In the case of Strowman, I was one of the many who were disgusted at the proposed idea of him facing Undertaker at WM last year.

This year? It would be perfectly acceptable to me. The guy has improved leaps and bounds in the past year and has been booked very well.

Strowman is better than the average big-man already with hardly any experience, and to not acknowledge his improvement is to be intellectually dishonest.

 

[The Gribbler]

I really had no opinion on Strowman one way or another. I thought he was another big man, who would probably get lost in the shuffle, but certainly had potential in that monster mold. Which is pretty much my thought process on every giant that walks through the door.

But ultimately, he has been very well booked, they are giving him matches of increasing complexity and more and more character in a really logical sequence. They need to keep him away from title matches until probably the end of this year, have him win his next couple of feuds (he really does need to drop Reigns), and he will be in a very good spot.

Will he be a main eventer? I see him in the Kane sort of role. Always a reliable upper mid-carder, can be called upon at any time, but doesn't really need the world title to be relevant.