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It's time to address the fact that Braun Strowman may very well not be declared fully fit in time for TLC later tonight.
Unfortunately for Strowman, he had to undergo elbow surgery in November for bone spurs. He was written off WWE television on RAW following a brutal attack at the hands of acting RAW General Manager Baron Corbin and his henchmen Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley following a 6-man tag match.
The following week on RAW, as Corbin took shots at Strowman, the 'Monster Among Men' appeared on the Titantron from the hospital ahead of undergoing surgery. Apart from sending a chilling message to the acting GM, Strowman also hinted at the time that this surgery could keep him out of action longer than expected with the kayfabe reason given being that Strowman's doctor had never operated on an elbow so big.
With WWE TLC taking place tonight, rumors suggest that Strowman will not be fit in time for his match against Corbin. What can WWE if Strowman can't wrestle tonight? Let's take a deeper look at 3 distinct possibilities.
#3 Strowman shows up and squashes Corbin
This one depends on exactly how fit Strowman is but will definitely be the easiest direction for WWE to go if their plan was for Strowman to go over.
Braun Strowman just has to show up and squash Corbin like so many other Superstars he's done to in the past. A couple of running powerslams and Strowman can have this done and dusted in under a minute with minimum risk of injuring himself any further.
After his win, Strowman can take time to heal up as he awaits his big WWE Universal Championship match against 'The Beast' Brock Lesnar at the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble in January.
#2 Replace the match with a multi-man tag team match
At this point, one option WWE could go with if Braun Strowman can't compete tonight is to replace the match with a multi-man tag team match.
WWE could book Corbin to team up with Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre and have them face Finn Balor, Elias and a third WWE RAW Superstar.
The big question here will be as to who will be the third person in the team opposing Corbin. Obviously, it makes the most sense to put Kurt Angle there. Angle is scheduled to appear on the WWE RAW after TLC so he may already be scheduled to be backstage at TLC later tonight.
WWE can keep Angle's identity a secret when they announce the 6-man tag match and keep Angle as a surprise entrant.
The only problem with this scenario, and a major one, is that the Elias vs Lashley and Balor vs McIntyre matches will be off the card, which may leave it looking a little light.
#1 Kurt Angle replaces Braun Strowman
This is easily WWE's ideal choice for replacing the Strowman vs Corbin match. Kurt Angle already has beef with Corbin and a ton of it. Corbin undermined Angle during his last days as General Manager before replacing him at the behest of Stephanie McMahon when Kurt was sent on vacation.
As mentioned in the previous slide, Angle is already scheduled to appear on RAW tomorrow. Angle coming out to face Corbin as a surprise replacement would garner him a huge pop from the get-go. While I agree with those who say that this match won't be a masterpiece seeing that Angle is a little limited in the ring now, WWE could easily book this to hide the former Olympic gold medallist's current weaknesses.
If WWE doesn't want to put Angle back into the position of General Manager, Vince could easily fire him on RAW.
What do you think WWE should do if Braun Strowman can't wrestle? Sound off in the comments section.
