Show
Time and location
HOUSTON — During the Elimination Chamber Kickoff, Braun Strowman regaled the WWE Universe with an eerie testimonial reframing his rivalry with Baron Corbin as some kind of macabre fairytale he called “The Monster and The Coward.” The Coward’s defining characteristic was that he couldn’t beat The Monster in any capacity without the help of some friends. Later in the evening in a No Disqualification Match, Baron Corbin defeated his monstrous foe, thanks in no small part to the help of some friends. This is what literary minds refer to as foreshadowing.
True, Corbin found some success with implements like the steel steps (his most effective weapon proved to be his vest, which he whipped into his opponent’s face to start the match), but that was about his only hope here: Strowman was the favorite even before he had access to a yard sale’s worth of plunder, and he barely needed the help of an implement to beat The Lone Wolf about the ring. The Monster Among Men pointedly shattered a Kendo stick on the grounds that he didn’t need one, though he indulged himself by plowing Corbin through a table with a Running Powerslam. And then things went downhill.
Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley, Corbin’s two colossal allies, arrived to the ring, steel chairs in hand, and joined in with a three-pronged dissection of The Monster Among Men from which he could barely fight back: Three is greater than one, no matter how great the one. The finishing stroke of Corbin’s crew was a Triple Powerbomb off the stacked steel steps and through two tables — a maneuver whose reminiscence of The Shield did not go unnoticed. This is what literary minds refer to as homage, and also, maybe, foreshadowing again. For Braun Strowman, this is starting to look like a tale as old as time, and unless something as done, it will be one told again and again and again.