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The Summer of 2020 hasn't exactly worked out the way Braun Strowman would've envisioned it. While he did enter SummerSlam 2020 as the Universal Champion, The Monster Among Men barely put up a Champion's performance against The Fiend at The Biggest Party of the Summer and dropped the Universal Title.
To add further insult to his injuries, the night ended with Braun Strowman being demolished at the hands of the returning Roman Reigns, who immediately upon his return, entered the WWE Universal Championship picture.
At the recently concluded WWE Payback PPV, things went further downhill for Strowman. The Monster Among Men was not only unable to win back the Universal Title from The Fiend but then was also pinned by Roman Reigns, who entered the match in the closing stages to win the Championship.
Now that it is all said and done, Braun Strowman definitely needs to reassess his Summer of 2020 which hasn't lived up to the mark, as the former Universal Champion would love to end the year on a high note. That being said, this article takes an in-depth look at the five potential directions for Braun Strowman after WWE Payback 2020.
#5 Braun Strowman gets taken out of the title picture
The obvious decision for WWE here would be to take Braun Strowman out of the Universal Title picture after The Monster Among Men dropped the Championship to The Fiend at SummerSlam 2020 and then once again failed to regain it at Payback.
With Strowman also falling victim to yet another pinfall loss at WWE Payback, this time to the returning Roman Reigns, WWE has pretty much indicated towards the fact that The Monster Among Men will no longer be a part of the Universal Title picture. Instead, the WWE Universe could expect new champ Roman Reigns to engage in a feud with Bray Wyatt, who mind you, was not pinned by The Big Dog at Payback.
#4 Full-fledged heel turn for Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman's feud against his Bray Wyatt lasted quite a few weeks and the two former Wyatt Family stablemates engaged in numerous notable matches, even squaring-off in a Swamp Fight at the Horror Show at Exreme Rules. Prior to which, the pair collided at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, when Strowman had pinned the Firefly Funhouse version of Wyatt and gained the upperhand in the feud.
However, since that win, things have gone downhill for Braun Strowman, who lost to Wyatt in the Swamp Fight in a non-title match and then finally went on to drop the Universal Title to the latter at SummerSlam, as well. In the lead-up to the SummerSlam PPV though, Braun Strowman did show signs of a potential heel turn and WWE teased a double turn, with Wyatt becoming a babyface.
In the aftermath of Strowman being possibly removed from the Universal Championship picture, The Monster Among Men could go full rogue and officially turn heel once again, especially given that his new look also would suit him better if he was the bad guy instead.
#3 WWE takes the opposite route and makes Braun Strowman the first challenger for Roman Reigns
Now, who doesn't loves a good old swerve? Payback 2020 marked the beginning of what seems like the dawning of a new era in WWE. Roman Reigns has officially cemented his place as a heel, by aligning himself with Paul Heyman and winning the WWE Universal Championship after pinning Braun Strowman and by playing all his cards the right way.
As things stand, Reigns is expected to engage in a feud against former champion Bray Wyatt, who wasn't involved in the finish to the Universal Title match at Payback and The Big Dog and The Fiend could lock horns with one another at the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
But, WWE could pull-off a swerve by taking The Fiend off TV for a few weeks, given that Payback will be counted as an official loss, regardless of him taking the pinfall or not.
In the meantime, WWE could re-engage Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman's rivalry. The feud between the two became a was well-received by the fans back in 2017 and also saw The Monster Among Men break into the scene and establish himself as a force to be reckoned with.
#2 Braun Strowman finally sides with 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt
For months now, Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt have been feuding with each other in WWE. From the looks of it, the two former Universal Champions will finally go their separate ways, following the culmination of the WWE Payback PPV.
However, ever since Wyatt and Strowman engaged themselves in a rivalry with each other, the former has tried his best to lure Braun Strowman to join him and has been trying to bring back the Black Sheep that he was during his time in The Wyatt Family.
With The Fiend set to engage himself in a feud against Roman Reigns, this could be WWE's big opportunity to have Braun Strowman align himself with Bray Wyatt once again and help the former Universal Champion win back his title from The Big Dog.
The alliance does seem unlikely at this point but it would benefit Strowman a lot and the storyline has a lot of potential to it, especially given that The Monster Among Men is starting to fall down the pecking order in the Blue brand after a couple of high-profile losses at SummerSlam and Payback.
#1 Braun Strowman brings the Intercontinental Championship back on pay-per-view
The WWE Intercontinental Championship has changed hands a few times, over the course of the past few months and currently is in the hands of Jeff Hardy, who recently defeated AJ Styles.. But, a monster in the form Braun Strowman could be looming around the corner.
While AJ Styles was the Intercontinental Champion, he successfully defended his title on a few occasions against the likes of Matt Riddle, Gran Metalik, and Drew Gulak, all of whom he defeated on SmackDown and not on pay-per-view. With Jeff Hardy winning the IC Title recently off Styles, it was somewhat expected of him to at least defend the title at WWE Payback but that didn't seem to be the case either.
Upon Sami Zayn's recent return to WWE TV, his intentions is to once again get his hands on Intercontinental Championship (officially) and even possibly force WWE to do a match between him and Hardy.
However, to have Braun Strowman enter the IC Title picture and to have him win the strap from would be a solid booster to the Championship picture, in general. And if Braun Strowman is to win the IC Title, he could even mark the return of the title on WWE PPV, given that the belt hasn't been defended in a WWE PPV for quite some time now.
