With a revamped roster expected to unfold soon, Braun Strowman has returned to TV and he’s decided to join WWE Smackdown. In his first match in quite some time, he’s pinned a former NXT Champion who was in search of worthy opponents.
The former Universal Champion was the surprise opponent for Carmelo Hayes on the latest episode of WWE SmackDown who was expecting a light work against the unnamed opponent. Strowman ended up having a squash match which ended in roughly 90 seconds.
During the match, Strowman ran at Melo, but Melo moved out of the way and Strowman ran into the ring post. Melo followed up with a dropkick to Strowman’s leg and a DDT but the Monster among Men was quickly up. Melo jumped off the top rope as Strowman caught Melo with a running powerslam for the pin-fall win.
WWE Smackdown: New Champion Announced Replacing Injured Star On December 13 Episode
Braun Strowman announced to be the latest on WWE Smackdown roster
It was mentioned during this short bout that Strowman was announced to be the newest member of the WWE SmackDown roster as part of the transfer window taking place prior to WWE Raw’s Netflix premiere on January 6. This announcement also appeared to be the first official switch on the WWE roster for this transfer season.
Before showing up on WWE Smackdown, Strowman had been out of action with a torn groin since a Last Monster Standing match that took place on the September 30 edition of Monday Night Raw against Bronson Reed. He returned to the ring last month, teaming with Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio in a dark match to defeat Finn Balor, Carlito, and JD McDonagh of the Judgment Day.
It was on last week’s WWE Smackdown that it was announced that all three brands of the company will be open for superstar trading via a transfer window. As a result, multiple Raw stars were seen talking to the GM of SmackDown and vice versa. Even NXT stars will also be available to make their way to the main roster as part of the process.
Strowman’s move to WWE SmackDown marked the first official brand switch with many more expected to happen in the due course. This move comes as a planned step on WWE’s part to shake things up before their major TV content to Netflix in January of next year.
