Ideas for Strowman

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

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This is the original debut of The Undertaker.

The match starts off as a normal squash match, with the monster having complete control. But then some things happened that really won me over as a casual fan watching this new monster:
a) Undertaker did the "Old School", the signature move where he walks on the top rope.
b) He showed great athletism.
c) His hit the Tombstone Piledriver, which at the time was a unique finisher and made great impact.

Also, check out the fact that he has a manager, a voice to speak for him. Managers used to be the 60-70% reason of a heel's success and almost every successful heel had one.

Another monster heel debut, The Great Khali. Khali made a huge impact on the company, because of his size and the fact that he took out The Undertaker. However Khali quicky fade away because his size impact only lasted for a year and the fact that he couldn't wrestler took over.

The Braun Strowman part​

Now let's compare those to Braun Strowman. Strowman is not a Khali in size, but he's around Undertaker's size. He's ok in the ring, but lacks the athletism that Undertaker had.
WWE are onto something with the interviews of the local jobbers, but the whole thing is just turning into a comedy act.
I never really understood why back in Survivor Series 2015, they didn't have Strowman and Bray (not Harper and Bray) beat The Brothers of Destruction, just to give Strowman a small push. But let's forget that and see the future.

Strowman goes out there, squashes the jobber in a comedic fashion also given those interviews and that's it. This will turn into the Heath Slater programm for RAW and Strowman will turn into a jobber before long.

What does WWE need to do?
First of all, get him a voice. Strowman is just like a big pokemon, screaming his name. He needs someone to talk for him.
Then, give him a gimmick. Just being big and strong doesn't work.
Here I have to say I definately dig his new look.
Now onto the gimmick, I was thinking about a viking based gimmick.

Strowman definately has the look of a viking. How not to make it corny? If you have him being serious and going around "killing people", plus bringing an axe or a hammer with him in No DQs matches, it will not be corny.
Plus you go on to lengths and say that he's an ancestor of a ancient Norse Giant. We are meant to believe that Finn Balor is some Demon King right? Why not believe that Strowman is this norse demigod?
Have his finishers named after norse god names, like "Ragnarok".
WWE can run vignnetes showing that the end is coming and that Ragnarok is here, showing witches seeing things in a fire. Norse Mythology has a lot of cool stories WWE can run with.
He can also use an axe to break people's legs. Plus they can showcase his powerlifting more, by having him do feats of strength. Fans can really get behind the Norse Giant idea.

For a manager, WWE just needs someone to hold the fans in his palm and generate heat.

It doesn't need to be over the top, but it could come in great use. Summerslam and Wrestlemania, where Balor became the Universal Champion and Bray went toe to toe with The Rock, proved to me that kayfabe is not dead and people love a good show.

WWE can capitalize on this and make Braun matter.

Extra Idea: That's were Rollins comes in, as "Loki". Rollins of course won't refer to himself as Loki, because he is in fact a modern Loki. He's a mastermind. He's pure evil and he could use all that to manipulate Strowman and have him as his bodyguard. Of course all of that would lead to Rollins (Loki) vs Triple H (Thor) at Wrestlemania. Of course figuratively speaking, just to give the entrances an extra boost.

What are your ideas for Braun? How do you build him up and make the fans invested in him?

 

[Aquaman6686]

Fire him. There is NO upside to Braun Strowman. This guy will never draw a dime. He can't work a match, and he doesn't even have a good look to him. He's just a huge guy with the face of a toddler. He's not intimidating, he's not athletic, he's nothing but a large body. I couldn't take him seriously as a threat to Darren Young. The only use Strowman could ever have is to put guys over before a PPV match, by having them squash Strowman on RAW.

 

[therockiswwf]

To be fair, Strowman does not have much experience in the ring. I think he is only in his second year of wrestling in general. He wasn't really given much development time. I think he needs to be put in NXT and learn.

Khali worked because he was taller than Show and had enormous popularity in India. Strowman is 6'8 and is not wildly popular anywhere.

I'm not a fan of weapons that cannot be used. So an axe is out of the question. Is he going to try to constantly murder people? Logically what else could he do with an axe? Imagine a casual who does not watch every single week. They tune in and see some tall dude walking around with an axe. If you meant axe handle, fine. But he cannot carry around an axe. A sledgehammer would work but since HHH is still around, he can't use it.

Undertaker is different from most monsters. Taker could move like no one else his size. Taker evolved with the times. He was able to pull off the many characters he had. He could hold his own in promos. He is special. Strowman is a mystery on the mic (I don't think he has ever done a promo alone). Probably limited in the ring due to inexperience. Taker got over because of who he is. Say Braun had Taker's gimmick, would not have worked.

I would tweak your idea. Have him become enthrolled in those ideas. He was already brainwashed by Wyatt so it is not a stretch that he could easily become brainwashed by something else. Don't have him be a descendent of a giant. That would be a bit corny. Have Strowman believe he is a god. Have him believe he needs to cause pain. He needs to do it, he wants to, he has to. However, this could easily turn into a one dimensional character. I also don't think Strowman is good enough to pull really any character off.

The only monster character I liked that never went anywhere was Mike Knox being a super genius that loved to cause pain. I thought that had some sort of potential. Maybe a bit of that can be mixed in.

Saying the WWE just needs a manager who can hold the fans in his palms is not as easy as it sounds. Currently only Heyman can do that.

As for your extra idea, I'm not familiar with Loki (I know he is some sort of villian in those comic movies). However, I do like Rollins being the leader rather than HHH/Steph. I forget who said it but Rollins running to HHH/Steph always made him seem like he was hiding behind his parents.

 

[Kyphael]

The only worth I see in Strowman right now is being somebody's muscle. That's how Diesel and Sid got over in the 90's initially. I mean, sure, Sid and Diesel could at least cut a decent promo, but it's Strowman's only use given the already cited limit of in-ring experience.

As to who to pair him up with? Why not The Miz? Strowman with The Miz and Maryse sounds like comic gold, and the Miz can pretty much turn anyone relevant (look at what he did for Riley and Sandow, even if it didn't pay off in the long run due to backstage politics and Sandow especially did get over due to his own talents but Miz being an easy to hate heel helped.)

If not Miz, another smaller, talented floundering guy could work. Bo Dallas with Strowman at his side could be amusing, and later tie back into a Wyatt family angle (is Bo Dallas even on RAW? I don't remember.)

 

[OYDK]

You say current Strowman is jobber bound so your solution is to turn him into a Viking? Sorry man, that will just make the jobber path much easier to walk for Braun. Sure they could incorporate Norse elements into his character but going full out such as walking down to the ring with an axe or hammer, actually using said axe or hammer on opponents, naming his moves after dead Vikings, and bringing up his lineage to the Norsemen (as if that were actually possible) is way too gimmicky for this era. Characters like that are so one dimensional and usually fall flat on their face within a month.

I would just take the simple route and play up his Strongman background. Have him complete feats of strength similar to Mark Henry circa 2002 before squashing jobbers. Put him over more as a legit monster because that's kind of what he is. If I were to change anything about Braun it would be his ring gear... he's not a Wyatt anymore so why is he still wearing their slacks? Eventually give him a manager (no clue who, maybe Michael Hayes or Teddy Long or... someone else...) and have him move on to giants like Mark Henry, Big Show and Kane, ultimately beating them all pretty handily.

Braun's doing just fine right now, there's really no need to overhaul his character. He's only 32 years old and it's pretty obvious that WWE has some big plans in store for him later on down the line. Plus, he's actually starting to generate a buzz and reaction during his segments. Even if the crowd is chanting for the jobber, the telling part is they're making noise. As a heel, getting the crowd to cheer his opponent is exactly what he's supposed to be doing.

 

[nwocongo]

They need to move on from the jobber squash angle, it's become a novelty at this point. They should give him a program with a jobber that's at least a member of the roster. I agree he could probably benfeit greatly from a manager, he had a solid mouthpiece before in the form of Bray Wyatt, I'm not sure why they chose to separate him from Bray. He has shown a decent amount of improvement in a year's time and he has more athleticism in the ring than people want to give him credit for. He actually moves pretty good for a guy over 350 but having him continue to manhandle Johnny Knockout doesn't really do his strength justice.
The Norse God/Viking thing could have worked if done right upon his debut, but now I think fans would likely reject any mass overhaul of his gimmick. Braun's biggest issue to me is that he came up way too early and he was worhtless in the ring for a while, he will have to work pretty hard to prove himself in the eyes of the marks who continue to perpetuate the notion that he is unathletic or can't work, but then again I doubt he really gives a shit what anyone but his employers and co-workers think.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

You want to turn him into a Viking and have him "use an axe to break people's legs".

The Viking thing on its own is stupid. It was stupid with the Berzerker and that was during an era of cartoonish characters where it actually fit in more than it would today.

But then you go completely off the rails with talk of axes and "killing people".

If you start a topic about how to present or re-package a guy, can you at least try to work within the confines of PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING??

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The Viking thing will not work, it's just too cheesy of a gimmick. The last guy I remember with a "Viking" gimmick was the Berzerker and 90% of that gimmick was him ripping off Bruiser Brody. It didn't exactly take him places in WWE.

As of right now, as green as Strowman is, going down the path he is right now is probably the best place for him or pairing him up, as someone suggested, as someone's bodyguard. And when I say bodyguard, I mean competent bodyguard rather than just some big lug who screws up more often than he helps.

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

Strowman does not need a gimmick no viking or bezerker crap his fine as he is. What they need is to repackage him like mark herny have him beat many opponents , pair him up with Bray Wyatt and go for the tag team belts is another good start and once he gets recognized have him feud with Brock Lesnar , Reigns etc

 

[rmp0012002]

Every time I see Strowman it reminds me of Ogre from Revenge Of The Nerds. Nothing against the guy but he just doesn't have the tools.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Every time I see Strowman it reminds me of Ogre from Revenge Of The Nerds. Nothing against the guy but he just doesn't have the tools.

Imagine the beginning of Strowman's entrance music starting with "NEERRRDDSSS!!!!!" in place of the opening growl that he has now.

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

Every time I see Strowman it reminds me of Ogre from Revenge Of The Nerds. Nothing against the guy but he just doesn't have the tools.

LOL! It is true he does resemble Ogre. Let's hope wwe doesn't take this idea and have him come out with a 6 pack of beers and belch continously

 

[thekooljt]

You know guys (and gals if any), you kind of knew looking back that there were going to be
a few casualties as a result of the brand split. You knew someones wrestling career might take a major nosedive as a result. When Braun was with the Wyatt Family, his position was established because Bray, Luke, and Erik brilliantly carried most of the load. But now he's asked to do things on his own and, we all now see where he falls short. Its obvious he needs to either reestablish or reinvent himself so, maybe some time in NXT would do him some good.

 

[LegendKiller97]

I think they are going to eventually have Strowman beat up guys on the active roster and then eventually feed him to Brock. I don't see much in him right now.

He should be down in NXT learning. WWE is doing more harm then good by keeping him on the main roster because he isn't going to get over with the fans. He's big but doesn't have the athleticism of The Undertaker. Being big only matters if you can work, or it least do your part in the ring. I don't think Strowman is at that point yet where he can.

They could use him as an enforcer but I don't think he'd work with guys like Miz right now. Their characters are to different. The best thing they can do for him is to send him down to NXT and repackage him. Or throw him back with Bray. Either way though, the problem is that he is eventually going to have to work matches. And he can't.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

The guy was OK when he was acting as the muscle for Bray wyatt and to be fair that is the role he needs to continue to play until he gets more experience and improves in the ring. I think he would be great in Galloway and Andersons corner, he would learn so much off the two veterans and would make them look even scarier having a beast like Strowman accompanying them to the ring.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The guy was OK when he was acting as the muscle for Bray wyatt and to be fair that is the role he needs to continue to play until he gets more experience and improves in the ring. I think he would be great in Galloway and Andersons corner, he would learn so much off the two veterans and would make them look even scarier having a beast like Strowman accompanying them to the ring.

That's not a bad idea actually! Since you know, the New Day are also a trio and the Club has been looking for a way to get rid of Big E! Have we ever had a tag team with a bodyguard before?

 

[Dagger Dias]

They should not have separated him from The Wyatts yet even back when he was with them he was the worst of the bunch. Strowman sucks. His squashing of jobbers has been the most boring part of Raw ever since the new brand split began. I see him getting built up by these squashes only to lose to someone like Seth or Reigns. Then future endeavored or possibly demoted to NXT. Without The Wyatts, Strowman is just another generic boring big guy. Sorry but I need more than just random squashes before I'll care about him. Significant improvement in the ring would be a good start.

 

[LascoX]

Like many here I think it was a mistake to break Braun away from the Wyatt family. It gave him the mouthpiece he needs and the enforcer support role that many here are saying he needs to be back involved with. I understand the WWE wants to make him his own man , but the jobber squashing will get well beyond stale quickly.
WWE already needs to be upping the ante and feeding Brawn some more respectable opponents. It's already established that he can squash a 5"-7" no-name jobber in record time, its time to start feeding him some actual competition so he can learn to work in the ring better. At this point in the angle, WWE needs to start working him up the ranks in the locker room , competition wise. Squash a few of the workers from the lower card , Work his was through a legit feud or two with some of the mid card while he hones his skills in the ring and then eventually set up an irresistible force ( Lesner) verses the immovable object ( Stroman) match. If done right and Braun actually gets where he can move smoother in the ring the man has serious potential to be a monster heel in the similar to Bruiser Brody.