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Heading into the TLC pay-per-view, the odds were firmly stacked against Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Kurt Angle against a monstrous five-man team consisting of Braun Strowman, Kane, The Miz, Sheamus and Cesaro.
The only possible way the reunited Shield, with Angle taking the place of Roman Reigns, could've gotten the victory was The Miz being unable to keep his team on the same page — and that’s exactly what happened.
A miscommunication saw Kane attempt to hit Ambrose with a steel chair, only to accidentally strike Strowman, who reacted by angrily shoving “The Big Red Machine” to the mat.
Kane would get his revenge a few minutes later by attacking "The Monster Among Men" on the entrance ramp, chokeslamming his teammate through an area of the stage before covering him in steel chairs.
If that wasn’t enough punishment for poor Strowman who was soon back on his feet to attack Kane, The Miz, Sheamus and Cesaro, he was then thrown into a dumpster truck by his fellow team members.
Now, for the first time in his WWE career, the former Wyatt Family member officially appears to be a good guy. In this article, we look at five possible opponents a babyface Braun can face in the upcoming weeks.
#1 Kane
Starting with the obvious, and most likely, opponent: Kane. The two have fought before in WWE, most memorably during the feud that saw The Undertaker return in 2015 for the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series, but they have never done battle with Braun as the face and Kane as the heel.
While a Strowman vs. Kane feud may seem a little underwhelming, many would have said the same about Strowman vs. Big Show, and that’s proved to be one of the best on-off feuds of 2017 so far.
Another series of statement victories against Kane, much like he’s done with Big Show, would continue to cement Strowman as the one true giant — or monster, if you will — in WWE today.
#2 Samoa Joe
Monster vs. Destroyer? Yes, please. Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe have unfinished business from their Universal Title feud earlier in the year. Both men were involved in the SummerSlam main event, along with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns but have never faced each other one-on-one.
Joe was supposed to enter into a feud with John Cena after SummerSlam, culminating in a match at No Mercy. However, a knee injury ended the rivalry before it ever got started and Joe is yet to return.
Face or heel, Strowman was always going to be a likely opponent for Joe when he returned, but that seems even more certain now if Strowman is a babyface and Joe, presumably, remains a heel.
#3 Enzo Amore
Of course, we’re not talking about a three-month-long feud or major storyline here, but one opponent who Braun could face in the upcoming weeks is Enzo Amore.
For no apparent reason other than that he likes to hurt people, Strowman attacked Amore on consecutive episodes of Raw in September before directing Neville and then the entire cruiserweight division to finish the job.
Looking back, that might have been WWE testing the waters to see how much of a babyface reaction "The Monster Among Men" would get by attacking a member of the roster who was a clear heel. Now, with Strowman seemingly a face, he’d get an even bigger reaction if he were to attack the new Cruiserweight Champion again.
#4 Bray Wyatt
Once Bray Wyatt is healthy again, he simply has to feud with Braun Strowman. "The New Face of Fear" has had battles in the past with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan after they split from the Wyatt Family, but he’s never had a feud with Strowman.
The man is formerly known as “The Black Sheep” was the only member of the Wyatts to be drafted to Raw in July 2016, separating him from his “family”. However, for the last six months, both he and Wyatt have been together on Raw, but they’ve never really had a proper interaction.
Apologies in advance to Bray fans, as it’s not a feud “The Eater of Worlds” is likely to win, but there's an unfinished storyline here that has to be revisited.
#5 The Miz
Another potential opponent for Strowman in the not-too-distant future could be the reigning Intercontinental Champion — The Miz. Not only because the two didn’t quite see eye to eye during the build-up to TLC but also because the North Carolina native has never held a title in WWE.
For someone who claims to have made Raw’s secondary title relevant again, The Miz has only defended it on one pay-per-view — against Jason Jordan at No Mercy — since early July, and even then he needed the help of Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas to get the win.
It’s quite clear that WWE wants seven-time title holder The Miz to go down as one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time, possibly breaking Chris Jericho’s tally of nine titles along the way. To do that, he’ll have to lose it a couple more times, and there’s no better person to win it right now than Strowman.
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