I tend to go back and watch WWE RAW shows from earlier in the year. You know, stuff that I missed. One thing that stood out from the July 1st show was the brawl between Lashley and Strowman.
Lashley vs. Strowman’s Hoss Match
Now, I love a match between hoss wrestlers. Lashley is a genetic freak and Strowman is a monster. He’s the beast that Corbin should’ve been. Just a massive…killdozer of an athlete. I’m the modern wrestling climate seeing two heavyweights like these two might result in some sarcastic yawns and a couple of legit ones.
What I see is a brawl: fighting in its rawest form in a wrestling setting. And if you put it in a street fight, a hardcore match or a death match? Well, that’s just an uncut heavyweight bout! Second on my list next to a blood and guts match.
The match itself was short but good. There were parts where it was exceptionally plodding but both men tend to explode rather than take a go-go-go style through their bouts. They will break down and bust up their opponents before exploding through them when necessary. It’s a sound strategy.
The Brawl
You could see that they were building up to something big in the match since WWE’s heavyweight and monster matches tend to be pretty predictable. The ring collapses, someone goes through a part of the stage, someone goes through the ring, through the barrier. You know how WWE rolls.
The question isn’t if some big spot is planned, it’s which one. Sure enough, WWE didn’t disappoint when Braun Strowman ran through Bobby Lashley and the two of them knocked the Titantron off the power grid. They tore up the set, knocked out the lights, probably knocked over some jabroni eating a sandwich near the set–just took out all the prizes!
There were sparks, a blackout and the backstage crew showed up and did some of the best fire extinguisher work I’ve seen in my 24 years of watching wrestling. Give those guys a Slammy for Best Backstage Crew.
This match wasn’t meant to be some epic brawl for these two, it was a precursor to what could be one hell of a match between the two. Thirty years prior these two would’ve been thrown in a cage to settle their issues since it’s too dangerous to let them fight amongst the crowd.
As predictable as it was, I really enjoyed this match.
