The Darkest Timeline: Braun Strowman to Miss Half a Year

Strowman's down to injury. Fuck. Photo Credit: WWE.com

WWE RAW got the most devastating news possible yesterday. Braun Strowman, the MVP of the show and possibly the entire WWE up to this point in 2017, will miss up to six months according to WWE dot com. The news report heavily kayfabes the news, blaming the attack perpetrated by Roman Reigns on last week's episode, but rumblings of injury have been coming for awhile now. However, instead of being back by SummerSlam, Strowman looks to be on the shelf until Survivor Series at the most optimistic.

First off, for Strowman to suffer injury right when he's about to take off is the worst luck for him. The dude deserves this stardom he's been about ready to seize as much as anyone, and six months out will hurt his momentum on top of the damage done to his body. Second and less important, WWE's plans for the immediate future probably just got a whole heck of a lot less interesting. Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar, whether at WWE Runaround Sue Great Balls of Fire or SummerSlam was the money match. I mean, that match was going to be an awesome spectacle, and now back to the goddamn drawing board. Lesnar/Reigns II will definitely be a spectacle if that's the SummerSlam main event, but that match would be the definition of overly delayed gratification, as more and more evidence points to WrestleMania 31 (TWO GODDAMN YEARS AGO) as the time to have Reigns go over.

The other options are Seth Rollins and Finn Bálor. The former might give Lesnar a great match if he bumps like a maniac, but god, the build to it being a joust on the mic between Rollins and Paul Heyman just sounds goddamn dire to me. Bálor could be interesting, a silver lining to all this, but I have my apprehensions that WWE will do that match at all, let alone this early in Bálor's tenure after returning from injury.

I just don't know anymore. Anytime something good happens with an interesting talent on RAW, it gets scuttled due to factors beyond anyone's control. No one can have anything nice, not Strowman, not the fans. Ugh. Get well soon, Mr. Strowman. Hopefully, when he comes back, he can pick up right where he left off and roar into WrestleMania season with renewed focus.