Braun Strowman Stripped of Universal Championship Match at Royal Rumble, Flips Vince McMahon's Limo

Braun Strowman had an eventful opening to Monday Night Raw this week.'The Monster Among Men' [...]

By Connor Casey

Braun Strowman had an eventful opening to Monday Night Raw this week.

"The Monster Among Men" opened the show in the ring by cutting yet another promo on Brock Lesnar, the man he was supposed to face at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Universal Championship. But he was cut off by Baron Corbin, who announced he was entering the Royal Rumble match and began antagonizing Strowman. The big man responded by chasing Corbin backstage, eventually cornering him (thanks to a tip from a singing Elias) after Corbin hid inside Vince McMahon's limo.

Strowman grabbed a metal pipe and bashed in one of the windows, then ripped one of the passenger doors off. Corbin got out on the other side and took off, just in time for McMahon to show up and see the damage caused by Strowman. He said Strowman would be fined $100,000 for damages, to which Strowman replied that the limo wasn't worth that much. McMahon, insulted that someone had raised their voice at him, promptly stripped Strowman of his Universal Championship title shot.

An eraged Strowman turned his attention back to the limo and flipped it over.

Reports began circulating on Monday afternoon that the Strowman vs. Lesnar match would be scrapped this week as the big man is reportedly still dealing with recovery from having elbow surgery in late November. Strowman was taken off television at the time to have bone spurs on his elbow removed via surgery, and his only match since then was a Tables, Ladders and Chairs win against Baron Corbin at TLC where he had a group of other wrestlers beat up Corbin beforehand.

Without Strowman, Lesnar now finds himself without an opponent for the Jan. 27 event at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. After losing the Universal Championship to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, Lesnar earned himself another title shot after interfering in a Hell in a Cell match between Reigns and Strowman. Reigns unfortunately had to relinquish the title due to a leukemia diagnosis, leading to a one-on-one match between Lesnar and Strowman at Crown Jewel. Corbin, who was the acting general manager at the time, attacked Strowman from behind just before the match started, setting up Lesnar for a quick victory.

As per usual, he has not defended the title since.

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