Last week, The New York Post published an article on WWE star Braun Strowman’s current status in the company, and the author used the headline “Braun Strowman In Big Trouble With WWE Owner Vince McMahon.” The piece went on to source PWInsider Elite Audio, and contained quotes from Mike Johnson.
Specifically, the Post article implied that Strowman’s current “backstage heat” in WWE is the reason why the big man did not win the Universal Title at Crown Jewel, adding “many expected [Strowman] to win the title at last week’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view but were left shocked when he lost an extremely quick match to Brock Lesnar for the belt.
The apparent reluctance to make the 385-pound giant WWE’s top man has left many baffled, but PW Insider’s Mike Johnson claims it is because of major “heat” backstage.”
[lawrence-related id=846742]Mike Johnson has since taken to Facebook and criticized the New York Post article with the following statement:
“This is a classic example of what happens when someone take a quote from a longer conversation out of context and puts it out there without giving a d**n about that context”, Johnson explained. “I never ever stated or wrote Braun is in “big trouble” with Vince McMahon…nor did I say these were current issues…just things that have happened with him during his tenure. I hate idiots,” Johnson added.
As of this writing, there remains no backstage confirmation as to whether or not WWE decided against putting the title on Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel due to backstage heat, so at this point there is no reason to believe that Strowman’s loss in Saudi Arabia was any form of “punishment”.
Furthermore, it was reported last week via The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that original match plans for Crown Jewel, prior to Roman Reigns announcing his leave of absence from WWE to battle leukemia, was for Reigns to retain the title in the triple threat match and leave Riyadh still the Universal Champion.
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