Wrestlers who carried the WWE in 2018

Braun Strowman

The Monster Among Men seems unable to capture the gold

Braun has had what has to be considered a disappointing year. He won the Raw tag team titles with a child only to give them up the next night. He won the Money in the Bank briefcase and vowed to announce his cash in to the current champion. While it felt like they were finally going to pull the trigger on Braun as champion, he turned heel after Summerslam.

He aligned himself with Dolph Ziggler and McIntyre but the partnership was rocky at best. The trios exchanged wins with the Shield before Strowman became fed up with losing (mainly Ziggler's role in the group). During the run, Strowman's cash in was set up for Hell in a Cell, killing any excitement it would have created had it been a surprise.

Strowman's cash in ultimately failed as Brock Lesnar attacked both Strowman and Universal Champion Roman Reigns, leading to a no contest. After that, Strowman battled McIntyre and Ziggler and then shifted focus to a triple threat between Strowman, Lesnar, and Reigns for the Universal Title at Crown Jewel. Due to Roman abdicating his throne in order to fight leukemia, the match became a one on one match.

Strowman ultimately failed to capture the belt once again and he was written off television recently in order to undergo elbow surgery. He's slated to face Baron Corbin at TLC and Lesnar at the Royal Rumble, but both matches are in jeopardy.

Strowman's year has been almost a waste and it seems like he, Bray Wyatt, Nakamura and Samoa Joe are in the same territory. They've each portrayed dangerous challengers to the top belts on their respective shows but never seen as good enough to be top champion.

It seems like a missed opportunity to create new champion-level stars.

Can he eventually be salvaged? Only time will ultimately tell.