Braun Strowman: We profile Roman Reigns' WWE Fastlane opponent
Strongman, former Rosebud and thankful to Mark Henry...
Friday 3 March 2017 15:25, UK
He's big, he's menacing and he's facing Roman Reigns at WWE Fastlane - but what else do you need to know about Braun Strowman?
Birth name: Adam Scherr
Twitter handle: @BraunStrowman
Finishing move: Running powerslam
WWE main roster debut: August 2015
Brand: Monday Night Raw
He has a strongman background
Before Strowman became a professional wrestler, he used his enormous frame in the strongman game, winning the US Amateur Strongman Championships in 2011 and the 2012 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships, the first triumph earning him his Professional Card. Strowman never made it to the World's Strongest Man competition we see on British TV every Christmas, though, with WWE soon coming calling.
Mark Henry and charisma helped get him into WWE
Henry, an erstwhile strongman in his own right, as well as Olympic weightlifter and former WWE world champion, put in a good word for Strowman having got to know him on the strongman scene. Speaking to Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast last year, Strowman said: "Mark turned [WWE Senior Director of Talent Development] Canyon Ceman onto me and said: 'You need to watch this guy - he's not like all the other strongmen'."
Strowman also feels his personality made it impossible for WWE to ignore him: "I took pleasure in going out there, hamming it up and getting the crowd involved - the louder the people got, the stronger I got. I think that's one of the big things that drew WWE to me - seeing the fact that I enjoy going out there and entertaining."
His athleticism is coming to the fore
At 6ft 8in and 385lb - albeit down from his former weight of 415lb when, he admits, his girlfriend had to tie his shoes - Strowman is a WWE powerhouse, but he is lithe, too, as his dropkicks inside the ring testify. His greatest feat of athleticism to date, though, is probably the gigantic kip-up he performed while wrestling, and beating, Big Show on Raw a few weeks ago.
His stint in NXT was short and sweet
Plenty of new recruits enjoy lengthy spells in NXT in order to fully get to grips with the WWE style - not so for Strowman. The North-Carolina born star wrestled just seven non-televised bouts, defeating the likes of Dash Wilder, Tye Dillinger and Chad Gable, before he defeated Dean Ambrose via disqualification on Raw in August 2015, a week after debuting on the main roster as the newest addition to Bray Wyatt's Wyatt Family.
Strowman remained in that brood until it was broken up during the 2016 Draft - Strowman remaining on Raw as "mentor" Wyatt, Erick Rowan and latterly Luke Harper moved to Smackdown. "I was very blessed to be put into that spot and I think it really helped me," he told Austin about being part of the faction. "I don't know what would have happened if I would have been brought in doing something else."
The thing was, though, that HE WAS bought in doing something else, having previously been seen on screen as one of Adam Rose's dancing Rosebuds!
He has not been pinned since the 2016 Draft
Strowman has had no problem going solo, with Reigns and Seth Rollins only besting him via disqualification and Sami Zayn picking up a technical win after lasting 10 minutes with him at Roadblock in December. Behemoths like Show and Henry, as well as lighter wrestlers such as Sin Cara and James Ellsworth have felt his force, Ellsworth doing so in dramatic style at Survivor Series when he was thrown through a table after stopping Strowman from returning to the ring by yanking his leg while hidden underneath the apron.
He starred at the Royal Rumble
If Chris Jericho and Zayn, who lasted over 60 and 47 minutes respectively, were the Royal Rumble MVPs in terms of time, Strowman took the accolade in terms of eliminations, the 33-year-old banishing seven men - Henry, Show, Big Cass, Dillinger, Kalisto, Ellsworth and Mojo Rawley. Still, that success probably came as no surprise to Strowman. "I feel without a doubt this is what I was put on the earth to do," he told Austin last summer. The recent evidence suggests he is right.
Watch WWE Fastlane, live on Sky Sports Box Office at 1am on Sunday night (Monday morning), or follow a live text blog of the event on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
WWE Fastlane booking details
WWE Fastlane will be live on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 491) and Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 492) at 1am on Sunday, March 5 (Monday morning).
WWE Fastlane will repeated on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 491) BUT NOT Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 492) between 10am on Monday, March 6 and 10pm on Thursday, March 9
The pay-per-view will cost £14.95 for viewers in the United Kingdom and €21.95 for customers in the Republic of Ireland.
You can order the show online by visiting this link: https://my.sky.com/orderboxoffice/?DCMP=WWEFastlane
You can also book the event over the phone: UK viewers should call 03442 410 888, while customers in the Republic of Ireland should call 0818 220 225. (There may be an additional charge for telephone bookings).
You can also order WWE Fastlane via your Sky remote:
Sky+: Press the box office button on your remote, then click the sports tab followed by WWE Fastlane.
Sky Q: Press Home on your Sky Q remote, select TV guide, then Box Office and then WWE Fastlane. Enter your TV Pin if prompted. (Only bookings via Sky TV remote are recordable using Sky Plus).
Sky TV residential customers only. Commercial customers contact Sky for price and to order. Sky Box Office terms apply. Cable customers should contact their local cable operator.
