As soon as the news of the WWE release of Braun Strowman and five other Superstars broke, speculation began about where they might end up next. However, in Strowman’s case the obvious destination might not be the best fit according to Hall of Famer Booker T.
Prior to his release, Braun Strowman had been featured heavily on RAW, even competing for the WWE Title just a few short weeks ago.
As the dust settled on the news, Strowman was immediately linked with AEW, the promotion many see as the main rival to WWE. Interestingly there is becoming an increasingly well worn path from WWE to AEW with the likes of Miro, Christian Cage, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Big Show and Mark Henry eventually winding up in Jacksonville. While some like Jericho took a more round-about route, all roads eventually led to the same place.
Speaking on a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T discussed the idea of Strowman adding his name to that ever growing list. While the move may seem obvious, the WWE Hall of Famer, said that Strowman might simply be too big physically to a success with the company, adding that there are maybe only two viable matches for him.
Booker looked to the past success of Kevin Nash joining WWE to illustrate the point.
“That’s the thing, Braun Strowman runs through that whole roster,” Booker said. “I really rely on the past in certain ways to fuel what we got going on today. Just imagine, we may not be talking about Kevin Nash the way we talk about him if he wasn’t the bodyguard for Shawn Michaels in the beginning. The way big Kev was introduced, he wasn’t a guy that was just thrown out there to be a star. He was a star and the fans knew it and they wanted to get behind them because he was Big Sexy, Big Daddy Cool, Diesel. He had some charisma and the fans gravitated to that. A guy like Braun Strowman, we just threw him out there to become a star and sometimes it’s really really difficult when you’re put out there under the bright lights to pull it off. Not saying that he didn’t do a hell of a job but being introduced the way that he was introduced, as the Monster Among Men, he had to be bigger than everybody every single night. To rise to that occasion man, that’s a rough task.
“There’s like two matches over there for him,” Booker continued to mention. “Lance Archer, Brian Cage, Miro. There’s two or three guys that Braun Strowman [can face]. Mark Henry.”
Elsewhere in the discussion, the former world champion described Strowman as “throwback” to a bygone era, explaining how wrestling has shifted more towards smaller performers in recent years.
While Strowman’s release came as a shock to many it was later suggested that he may have paid the price for being signed to a high paying contract. It was reported after his departure that Strowman was said to be earning upwards of $1 million per year.
H/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.