Former WWE Universal Champion Undergoes Surgery

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque went on a shopping spree last summer. After Vince McMahon’s initial retirement left main roster creative responsibilities in his hands, Triple H took to the independent circuit to re-sign dozens of previously released WWE stars to bolster the Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown rosters. While most of these returns were NXT standouts, Triple H still made sure to bring a couple of former world champions back to the global leader in sports-entertainment. Among them was Braun Strowman, the multi-time WWE pay-per-view main-eventer who was surprisingly released in June 2021. Strowman returned to WWE TV in Summer 2022, engaging in a heavyweight feud with Omos before forming a tag team with Ricochet.

Now, Strowman’s WWE run is being put on pause. The Monster Among Men had been out of action since May 1st with an unspecified injury. Today, Strowman confirmed that the injury was neck-related and that he will require surgery.

“Road to recovery starts now!!!! Level one #fusion on my c4/c5 #vertebrae was in the great hands of #DrCordover at @andrews_sports_medicine was a great experience,” Strowman wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to @wwe for always taking the up most care of us. This was very scary to find out about having to have done and they were there every step of the way reassuring that I was going to have the best care possible. This will take a little bit of time to heal from. But I assure you ( in the words of the #Terminator ) I’ll be back!!!! Thank you all in advance for the well wishes.”

Strowman finds himself in a similar position as Bobby Roode, who underwent the same surgery earlier this year. Roode has been sidelined with neck issues for almost a full year. There’s no word on how long Strowman will be out of action for.

Strowman is in the middle of his second run with WWE. He first began training with the company in 2013, wrestling in various dark matches and making extra appearances on NXT TV. The North Carolina native made his official WWE debut in 2015, joining The Wyatt Family. He remained part of Bray Wyatt’s cult stable for just under one year before breaking out as a singles star on Monday Night Raw. Strowman gained immense popularity in his singles feud with Roman Reigns and would go on to eventually win the WWE Universal Championship at WWE WrestleMania 36.