Braun Strowman Reportedly in Danger of Missing WWE TLC

After news of Roman Reigns' leukemia, it seemed like the next man up for WWE's throne was Braun [...]

After news of Roman Reigns' leukemia, it seemed like the next man up for WWE's throne was Braun Strowman, but those plans may need to be delayed.

Strowman underwent elbow surgery on Monday to fix a bone spur issue. Expectations had him coming back in time for the December 16 TLC pay-per-view but a new report from Wrestle Votes says otherwise. Apparently, there is a real chance he misses the date, forcing WWE to call a major audible.

If he can make it in time, Strowman would go one-on-one with interim Raw General Manager Baron Corbin. If Stroman wins, he gets a shot at Brok Lesner and the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. But if Corbin wins, he'll be permanently installed as Raw's GM.

Per the report, it looks like WWE would blow up that plan use a chunk of their roster to replace Strowman. The 2012 version of this happened after CM Punk had to withdraw due to a knee injury and his Championship match against Ryback was switched to a 6-man tag featuring The Shield.

If Strowman does miss TLC, WWE will likely stick with his Royal Rumble plans. He can qualify for a ate with Lesnar by beating someone on Raw and things will resume their original path. WWE seems committed to the idea of Lesnar vs. Strowman, even though it seems unlikely the title will be switching hands.

With Roman Reigns being forced to relinquish the Universal Championship WWE has understandably had a hard time getting its footing. They installed Lesnar as emergency champion after it looks like he was set to be done with WWE for quite some time. But now Lesnar is back and sitting in WWE's thrown.

Strowman is currently the top candidate to unseat him, but this injury could be enough for WWE to just going in another direction. Regardless it feels like Lesnar will hold the big red belt until WrestleMania 35.

At the moment it doesn't look like WWE is considering bringing Lesnar vs. Strowman to WM35, either. Lesnar, though, has been attached to The Rock and Seth Rollins in recent reports, but for now, consider both to be highly speculative. WWE is in such a state of flux due to injuries that predicting its future would be a futile exercise.

We'll keep an eye on Strowman's status, but it appears WWE may already be building a contingency plan if he's forced to miss.

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