5 reasons why Braun Strowman returned to the ring before WWE Royal Rumble 2019

On the latest episode of WWE RAW, Braun Strowman actually returned to the ring and faced Finn Balor. It was a very interesting opening segment to RAW because it continued to put Finn Balor in his underdog role.

After Brock Lesnar came out, he was first interrupted by Vince McMahon, who made it very clear that he didn't believe that Finn Balor would be able to beat Brock Lesnar. He compared it to David and Goliath, with his own spin. He conveniently left out the part of the story where David overcomes Goliath.

McMahon then ended up making a match between Finn Balor and Braun Strowman, which turned out to be a phenomenal showing for the Universal title challenger. In fact, Balor was almost set to knock off The Monster Among Men after hitting the Coupe-de-grace, but Lesnar interfered, attacked Finn Balor and it was a DQ finish.

The big surprise was the fact that Strowman wrestled in the first place. The assumption was that he was written off the match because he still wasn't cleared from his injury. However, with the surprise, we list out five reasons why Strowman did wrestle on RAW.

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#5 He's been medically cleared all along

When Strowman said he was medically cleared last week and was then removed from the match, the natural assumption was that he just said it to throw off fans and surprise them when he was removed.

However, from what it seems, Strowman has actually been cleared for a while. He hasn't worn his cast since after TLC, and WWE has likely just been protecting him to make sure he doesn't re-injure himself. That's also why he hasn't been wrestling on live events. However, they seemed to prove that Strowman is fit after his match with Balor, and the match could have been done just to prove that point.

#4 They didn't want him to lose to Brock Lesnar again

Let's face it. If Braun Strowman were facing Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble, he wouldn't be walking out with the win. For the third time in a row, he would succumb to Lesnar, and that would definitely ruin his mystique and make him lose his credibility.

In that way, WWE is probably glad that they removed Strowman from the match. Balor can take the loss in a much more credible way and won't be affected as bad as Strowman would be.

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#3 To put Balor over big time

Finn Balor is really being pushed hard as the underdog. We know that Vince McMahon doesn't go against any superstar on-screen unless he has really big plans for them. The fact that Balor is being pitted as an underdog and they're pushing that narrative means that they have big plans for him, even if he doesn't win.

The fact that he almost beat Strowman had it not been for Lesnar made him look really strong. Facing Strowman would also add credibility to him when challenging Lesnar on Sunday.

#2 To indicate that Strowman is still in the Universal title picture

In kayfabe, Braun Strowman has a very strong claim to the Universal Championship. He got screwed over in November at Crown Jewel thanks to Baron Corbin, and he then went on to earn a #1 contenders match after "beating" Corbin at TLC.

With Braun Strowman wrestling and making his presence known, it seems clear that Strowman will still be in the Universal Championship picture, and WWE wants to remind us that.

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#1 A Balor-Strowman feud down the line

This one is a no-brainer. With no actual conclusion to their match, it seemed like Balor was on the verge of picking up a shocking upset. This leaves the door open to a Balor-Strowman feud down the line. It's going to be interesting to see how it pans out.

Naturally, it works better if Strowman were the heel and Balor the underdog, but a face vs face feud could work too!