Welcome to a new series on the website, called Rating The Champ. This will follow my prior World Title Series, where I reviewed each and every WWE Heavyweight Champion in history from Hulk Hogan’s first title win in 1984 all the way to the current days. Money in the Bank cash-ins will not be included for obvious reasons, unless it was a proper match (ie: Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand 2006). Royal Rumble and battle royales won’t be included as well.
In this new series, I will rate all the PPV matches from each and every WWF/E Heavyweight Champion in history. To be fair, since this is the WWF/E title, I’ll only rate their PPV matches in the WWF/E. In this first edition, we’ll be looking back at the PPV career of the one and only, current Universal Champion, Braun Strowman.
2015
- W/ Wyatt Family vs. Reigns, Ambrose & Jericho (Night of Champions) ***1/2
- Elimination Tag Team Tables: W/ Wyatt Family vs. Team ECW (TLC) **3/4
2016
- W/ Wyatt Family vs. Kane, Show & Ryback (Fastlane) *1/2
- W/ Wyatt Family vs. The New Day (Battleground) ***1/4
- W/ Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown (Survivor Series) ****1/2
- Vs. Sami Zayn (Roadblock: End Of The Line) *
2017
- Vs. Roman Reigns (Fastlane) ***3/4
- Vs. Roman Reigns (Payback) ***3/4
- Ambulance: Vs. Roman Reigns (Great Balls Of Fire) ***1/2
- Vs. Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Joe – WWE Universal Championship (SummerSlam) ****3/4
- Vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Universal Championship (No Mercy) *1/2
- TLC: Vs. The Shield (TLC) ***3/4
- W/ Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown (Survivor Series) **1/4
2018
- Vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Kane – WWE Universal Championship (Royal Rumble) *
- Elimination Chamber Match (Elimination Chamber) ***1/4
- W/ Nicholas vs. The Bar – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (WrestleMania 34) DUD
- W/ Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (Backlash) *1/4
- Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Money in the Bank) ****
- Steel Cage: Vs. Kevin Owens (Extreme Rules) **1/2
- Vs. Kevin Owens (SummerSlam) 1/2*
- HIAC Match: Vs. Roman Reigns – Universal Championship (Hell in a Cell) ***
- W/ The Dogs Of War vs. The Shield (Super ShowDown) ***3/4
- Vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Universal Championship (Crown Jewel) 1/2*
- W/ Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown (Survivor Series) ***1/2
- TLC: Vs. Baron Corbin (TLC) DUD
2019
- No DQ: Vs. Baron Corbin (Elimination Chamber) *
- Vs. Bobby Lashley (Super ShowDown) 3/4*
- Last Man Standing: Vs. Bobby Lashley (Extreme Rules) ***1/2
- W/ Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode – WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (Clash of Champions) **1/2
- Vs. Seth Rollins – WWE Universal Championship (Clash of Champions) ***1/2
- W/ Viking Raiders vs. The OC (Hell in a Cell) *
- Vs. Tyson Fury (Crown Jewel) DUD
- W/ Team SmackDown vs. Team RAW vs. Team NXT (Survivor Series) ****1/4
2020
- Handicap: Vs. Zayn, Cesaro & Nakamura – WWE Intercontinental Championship (Elimination Chamber) *1/2
- Vs. Goldberg – WWE Universal Championship (WrestleMania 36) 1/2*
TOP FIVE
5. Roman Reigns (Payback 2017)
After the 2016 Draft, it was obvious Braun Strowman was about to receive the push of his life. That is until his streak ended at the hands of Roman Reigns at Fastlane (of all places), and losing the Battle Royal at the WrestleMania 33 pre-show to Mojo Rawley (of all people). Just like that, fans were getting flashbacks to guys like Heidenreich.
This match against Roman Reigns at Payback came at the perfect time, putting Braun right back on the map before it was too late. He took advantage of Reigns’ injured shoulder to pick up the victory, destroying Reigns after the match was over as well.
This was unquestionably one of Braun’s most important matches of his entire career.
4. Money in the Bank 2018
The other participants were Kevin Owens, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Finn Bálor, The Miz, Samoa Joe and Kofi Kingston.
Braun was not only the winner of this match (which was a horrible idea, but that’s a topic for another day), he was also one of the highlights. Everyone started going after Braun, taking him out with ladders on the outside.
He tried to make numerous comebacks but was unsuccessful most of the times, before finally exploding and running over everyone to capture the briefcase. He was also involved in the most memorable spot of the match, absolutely killing Kevin Owens by tossing him off the ladder through some tables.
3. RAW vs. SmackDown vs. NXT (Survivor Series 2019)
Braun spent this match doing big things and teasing big confrontations with NXT wrestlers like WALTER and Keith Lee, only to be stopped by other heels.
He finally made his big comeback train around the ring around ten minutes into the match, but Keith Lee was enough to stop him and take him out via count-out.
Braun did a good job here of putting over Keith Lee, was protected in defeat and his team still won the match despite his elimination.
2. RAW vs. SmackDown (Survivor Series 2016)
The participants were Universal Champion Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman for RAW ; WWE Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton & Shane McMahon for SmackDown.
Braun came into this match still undefeated, having destroyed every single one of his opponents since the Draft in July. As soon as he tagged in, he stopped Dean Ambrose’s dive in mid-air and proceeded to murder Shane McMahon as well.
Braun eliminated Dean Ambrose with the Powerslam, the number-one contender to the WWE Championship at the time, no less. Just a few minutes later, he was the victim of an RKO on the floor, while James Ellsworth prevented him from beating the count and eliminating him.
1. Fatal 4 Way (SummerSlam 2017)
At this point, it was clear Roman Reigns would battle Brock Lesnar at the following year’s WrestleMania. Meanwhile, Reigns had been feuding with Braun Strowman for months, while Samoa Joe had been in a superb program with Lesnar two months earlier.
Braun started the bout confronting Lesnar, actually getting the better of him. He then killed BOTH Joe and Reigns by tossing a chair at them, before putting Lesnar out for a while with a couple of Powerslams through the table.
A Spear from Reigns finally stopped Braun, and Lesnar took advantage of that little moment with Braun down to hit the F5 on Reigns to retain. This was by far the match that made Braun look like a f*cking monster the most, and without any question his best match so far for the current ‘Blueniversal’ champion.
Overall average rating
2.33/5
Don’t miss the next piece of the Rating The Champ series, where I’ll be looking back at former World Heavyweight & Universal Champion, Goldberg.