5 major consequences of Braun Strowman winning the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36

Braun Strowman was the last-minute replacement for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36, facing Goldberg for the Universal Championship. Many expected Goldberg to retain in a repeat of Braun Strowman always failing to win the big one.

However, this time, he didn't. He took 130 seconds to put away Goldberg in a match that had all but three moves in it. Goldberg knocked Strowman down with multiple spears, but all Strowman needed to do was slam him a couple of times and finish him with the running powerslam.

From a superstar who seemingly had no WrestleMania match this year, he's gone on to win the Universal Championship, being the big beneficiary of Roman Reigns pulling out. While he would have likely preferred for it to happen under different circumstances, he's finally a World Champion - something that he should have been over two and a half years ago. Either way, better late than never and Strowman becoming Universal Champion will likely have a few consequences.

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#5. The babyface Champion problem could continue

Braun Strowman is only the third superstar to beat Goldberg clean

One of WWE's biggest problems in the last five years has been the inability to keep a top babyface Champion and have a long run. AJ Styles is one of the few exceptions, having had a year-long reign as WWE Champion while being a babyface throughout.

However, as a whole, heel World Champions have had longer runs and WWE tried multiple times to establish Roman Reigns as the heir to John Cena's throne, only for fans to continuously reject him.

While Reigns is still expected to get back in that spot, Strowman as the babyface Universal Champion will continue WWE's problem of having top babyface World Champions. However, we believe that they should invest in Strowman as the Champion long-term.

#4. An inevitable transitional reign?

Is Strowman's reign meant to last long?

This is one of our worries about Braun Strowman's Universal Championship reign. In any normal situation, winning your first title by beating Goldberg would mean a reasonably long reign and a guaranteed ascent up the card.

We fear that WWE may not capitalize on this win and that Strowman's reign might be purely transitional. After all, he didn't even have a WrestleMania match booked before the last-minute replacement.

Had Roman Reigns not pulled out, a win would have been all but guaranteed and we would expect a long reign as Universal Champion. The two big names that Strowman could face after WrestleMania is either Roman Reigns or 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt - all depending on Reigns' health and WWE being allowed to tape shows in the Performance Center.

There are rumors that WWE will have to possibly stop taping episodes of RAW and SmackDown until August. This would extend Strowman's reign but gives it a higher chance of him losing it to his next opponent.

#3. A possible character change for Strowman?

Does Braun Strowman need a character change?

Braun Strowman isn't a superstar who's in desperate need of a character change. The problem since 2018 was that he was hardly utilized in any major feud, let alone challenge for the World Championship.

He's one of those cases where a superstar can recover easily with a string of wins and great booking. An example of this is Bayley last year, who was in a much worse position than Strowman creatively. All it took was a move to SmackDown, a few good wins on the brand, a Money in the Bank win and a SmackDown Women's title win that very night. All of that happened in two months and it essentially helped her recover from 2 years of creative frustration.

Strowman may not need an outright character change, but we can see a scenario where he turns heel, but only if SmackDown is short on top heel superstars. 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt is perfect for that spot, but perhaps a character tweak or a "tweener" status would best suit the Universal Champion.

#2. Possibly getting the rub over The Fiend and Roman Reigns

The Fiend and Roman Reigns

When they say "Be careful what you wish for", the scenario has a high chance of applying here. As mentioned, the two biggest names they can go with as Braun Strowman's potential challenger are 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns.

Roman Reigns would be the logical rivalry since it's a renewal of their fantastic feud in 2017. They proved to be perfect opponents for each other and are an example of two superstars who elevate each other while competing in the ring.

Fans would have no problem with Strowman beating Roman Reigns, but there's a high possibility of him facing 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt as well. If he beats Wyatt, the reaction won't be good, even if it's not as bad as when Goldberg won the Universal title.

'The Fiend' is the most protected character in WWE and even if he loses to John Cena (which you'll know if you're reading this after day 2) at Wrestlemania 36, we still expect him to challenge for the Universal title soon.

#1. The end of Goldberg's Universal Championship pursuits

This won't be the last we see of Goldberg

After he returned at Super ShowDown 2019 against The Undertaker and then SummerSlam against Dolph Ziggler a couple of months later, it was clear that Goldberg wasn't done with his in-ring career despite being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.

However, nobody expected to see him as Universal Champion in 2020 and it's something that sparked a lot of outrage when it happened at the expense of 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt. It took him just 2 minutes and 10 seconds to lose the match and while we won't be seeing him until well after the fans' return, his return seems inevitable when the time is right.

And the "right time" will either be in one of the two Saudi Arabia shows or WrestleMania. Either way, we don't expect Goldberg to be challenging for the Universal Championship anymore. If he's still scheduled to face Roman Reigns at some point, then The Big Dog should be the defending Champion, not Goldberg.