Somehow Bork vs BRAUNN has become one of the most hyped feuds of the year. Turn the clocks back to a week after the Draft and think of the growing negative sentiment surrounding Strowman – the next in line for the honour of being Vince’s pet project – yet here we are a week away from his first singles match for the Universal title and everybody is happy.
Brock Lesnar is serving his purpose well as champion, despite not showing up as often as everybody would like him to, he’s putting on consistently fun, anticipated matches which feel like big deals. Suplex City is still thriving and starting to become a little less tedious while housing the likes of Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. This titanic clash should definitely not end up as a one time only deal, Braun is arguably the most over performer on the Raw brand and seems to be the ideal man to take the helm as the brand’s monster heel champion and could certainly be used as a draw against Lesnar for this year’s Wrestlemania.
So here we are again fellow fans, let’s have us some armchair booking.
For the sake of speculation, I’m going to make the prediction that Brock Lesnar is going to walk out of No Mercy as Universal Champion, although this isn’t quite as conclusive a victory as most of his other matches. Instead, the match is literally called off by Paul Heyman after both Brock and Braun end up putting each other through one of the announce tables – a theme which seems to be developing from Summerslam. I’m picturing both of them standing on top of one of the ringside tables, both seemingly on their last legs, Brock goes behind and hoists Strowman up for a German suplex, through the adjacent announce table. Both men go crashing through it and find themselves totally out for the count.
WWE
Fans may be a little perturbed by the non-finish on such a high-profile match, but surely this can only mean a future rematch down the line? Brock takes another traditional hiatus, whilst Braun is making a habit of screaming “I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU” on a weekly basis, destroying many poor souls along the way. While WWE build towards another Raw vs Smackdown Survivor Series clash, Braun Strowman finds himself headhunted by Raw GM Kurt Angle to represent the red brand against one of Smackdown’s toughest, Baron Corbin. A match which I believe could have the potential to be very exciting, considering their parallel careers on respective rosters and history in this year’s Royal Rumble match. Braun, of course, wins his match with Corbin, in an impressive display which gains him the attention of Paul Heyman the next night on Raw. Heyman suggests that if all this destruction was to warrant him another fight with Brock Lesnar then he’d say that it would work, however Brock’s legal staff say otherwise, who deem the rematch too dangerous for a superstar of Brock’s caliber to compete in. Braun throws a fit and delivers a huge running powerslam to Heyman (I can imagine he’d make it look as safe as possible). Because of this, Braun finds himself suspended from active competition.
From here, I’d like to go a little off-the-rails with this feud, something which I can imagine wouldn’t happen, but would be a hell of a lot of fun if they could. So Braun doesn’t exactly just go home to live out his suspension, instead he travels to Minnesota and scours the state until he finds Lesnar. The idea of Braun lumbering around the quiet, rural towns screaming after Brock would make this feud something to remember. I’d like to think that WWE would benefit more from skits like this, creating that illusion of kayfabe again. Weeks pass, and Braun finds himself closing in on Lesnar’s farm, where he eventually finds Sable, who he intimidates into telling him where Brock currently is – at a nearby bar. Braun breaks the door down and enters said establishment, where Brock is seen alone at the bar. The two immediately begin destroying absolutely everything in sight which causes state police forces to rush in and attempt to apprehend the two giants. I know this is starting to sound a lot like a terrible B-movie, but tell me you wouldn’t want to see this?
Heyman appears on the night after the December PPV and claims that Brock shall be pressing charges against Braun and filing a restraining order against the monster among men. Meanwhile, Triple H (who has taken over duty as Raw GM, see Angle/H booking) comes onto stage and recites contract laws surrounding championship defences. The Universal Champion must be present at the Royal Rumble event to defend his title. Against who, asks Paul Heyman, Braun has obliterated almost everyone not involved in the Royal Rumb–DEP!
Bray Wyatt has been biding his time for a shot at Brock Lesnar, teasing him as one of his targets for well over a couple of years. The Rumble is the time for Wyatt to ascend to the top of the mountain once more. Speculation begins to rise that Brock isn’t in peak fighting condition, still suffering from the brutal onslaught from Braun Strowman weeks before. Bray Wyatt looks to prey on that and defeat the beast while he’s off guard, thanks to his former Wyatt Family compadre. As the fight looms, Bray attempts to contact Braun through his traditional smoky room vignettes, asking him to return to Wyatt’s side and see Brock Lesnar fall as a champion. The match comes around and there’s no sign of Strowman. The match is fairly formulaic, a classic Brock Lesnar match… until BRAUNNN!
Comic Book
As Brock is hoisting Wyatt up for an F5, Braun charges towards the ring and Lesnar’s attention is fully on him. The two find themselves brawling at ringside and the match is called off. Bray Wyatt is livid the next night on Raw, calling out Strowman on his first night post-suspension. Strowman retaliates by storming to the ring with a face that suggests that he isn’t finished with certain people. Bray babbles on about how he made Strowman what he is and Braun owes him a debt. Of course this results in a mammoth running powerslam and a match set for the next Raw PPV. A later stipulation is that the winner will claim the Universal Title opportunity that John Cena forfeited (see Reigns/Cena booking). Strowman and Wyatt would most likely steal the show if given the opportunity, a match that I’d definitely like to see happen sooner rather than later.
Heyman has an invested interest in the match at Fast Lane, taking a seat on the commentator’s table to help voice Brock’s thoughts on the matter. Brock doesn’t care if Braun wins, because after all the restraining order is still in place. Braun picks up the win after a competitive match, which poses the issue: how exactly can this match happen between Brock and Braun? Paul berates Braun on the mic, shooting down his opportunity at the title unless he wants to risk his job, Braun retorts by saying that he doesn’t give a damn about his job, he wants Lesnar at Wrestlemania.
Over the coming weeks, Paul brings out several counters to the scheduled match, including some dweeby lawyers and medical staff, who all pose arguments as to why the match at Mania cannot happen, I’m sure you can picture what Braun would do in retaliation. As far as Raw GM Triple H is concerned, this match is too volatile to not happen: if he denies Braun his opportunity, he would be risking the safety of the entire roster. Thus the match is happening, for the final time. Brock Lesnar is shown preparing for his match with the behemoth Strowman with several intense MMA inspired training videos, while Strowman is off in the woods chopping huge tree trunks and lifting ridiculous amounts of weight.
This rematch is destined to be huge in many ways! But who’s your winner? Brock Lesnar to retain? Or Braun Strowman to claim his first Universal Championship?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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