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SPOILER: FORMER WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPION RETURNING

By Mike Johnson on 2022-09-01 09:41:00

Former WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman is returning to World Wrestling Entertainment, PWInsider.com has learned.  Multiple WWE sources confirmed this morning Strowman will be at this Monday's Raw in Kansas City.

Strowman, real name Adam Scherr, a former strongman competitor was signed by WWE in 2013 and at one point was Vince McMahon's handpicked project to be developed into a top star.  He initially debuted as part of The Wyatt Family in 2015 and was extremely well protected, right down to who he would sell for and what types of bumps he was allowed to take, all with the idea of preparing him to be long-term, top character for the company.

After being drafted to Raw in 2016, Strowman was pushed as a monster singles competitor, sometimes beating as many as three opponents at once.  He would feud with Roman Reigns and for several years, seemed to be on the cusp of being pushed as one of the top talents in the company, only to see WWE pull back from going all the way.  He would win the Money in the Bank briefcase and become the winner of the first-ever Greatest Royal Rumble, but when he would be scheduled to win the title, plans would always change with talk that he had somehow caused management to decide not to pull the trigger.

Strowman was moved to the Smackdown roster in 2019 and finally captured the Universal title at Wrestlemania 36 during the COVID-19 pandemic, replacing Roman Reigns at the last moment to defeat Goldberg.  He went right into a feud with Bray Wyatt, which included a lot of supernatural elements, right down to Braun being dragged down into a swamp at Extreme Rules.  He would eventually lose the title to Wyatt at Summerslam 2020.  After the match, Roman Reigns returned and attacked both, signifying his return and rise to the top of the Smackdown roster.

Braun was moved back to the Raw roster, presented as a tough monster who was in the mix, but was never positioned in the top spot for that brand.  Before his WWE release, he recently wrestled Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre at Wrestlemania Backlash 2021, being pinned by Lashley.  Since that time, Strowman had made very few independent wrestling appearances, mostly based around the EC3-created Control Your Narrative promotion, which is scheduled to undergo its first live tour later this year.   

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