Matthew Warhol: How have things changed backstage since y’all have been on Netflix? Is there competition between the people on Netflix versus the people on cable?
Braun Strowman: No, because we all work together as one big family. There might be some flack or talk on the internet but that’s hype. At the end of the day, we're all so proud of each other being able to do what we do and have an opportunity to wrestle on any of our shows, NXT, Raw, or Smackdown. I mean, there's 9 billion people in the world. There's 150 of us that do this. So man, it truly is a blessing. Other than some new faces and some different cameras and stuff, it really hasn't changed.
Mixing it up with the Netflix thing, and you know you get into so many different households that honestly would not be able to get to can't get to around the world. It speaks volume, when you see the numbers that it did opening night. You see the numbers that it's been doing, and then not mention the replays, the social media, all that stuff. Like, wrestling is freakin cool, man.
Matthew Warhol: Has there been pressure to step things up?
Braun Strowman: There's always pressure to step things up. And, like I said, I'm going on 10 years of being on TV, and it's every week, “How I push myself to continue to evolve?” Especially in the time we talk with streaming and everything. You got five seconds to get someone’s attention, man. So how can I continue to evolve Braun Strowman to keep up with the curve, and keep up with the excitement, keep the entertainment going, continue to evolve, bring something the fans don’t get to see. Evolve the character to keep working, working working. That’s everybody. At the end of the day, if you don't, there's somebody waiting to take your spot. So you've got to keep your nose in the grindstone, putting the pedal and all that stuff.
Matthew Warhol: What about Jacob Fatu (Strowman’s opponent for January 25’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, airing live on NBC)? What are your thoughts on stepping in the ring with him?
Braun Strowman: I’m looking forward to getting my hands on him. in my opinion, I think he's the most dangerous out of all the Samoan bloodline. I've been in the ring with all of them. I've put everyone of their shoulders to the mat except this one. So, let's just add him to the resume of Samoans I beat.
Matthew Warhol: You were talking about evolution, and I was looking back into your whole career, from [trying out for] the NFL Combine and Strongman. I don't know much about Strongman myself, but I have a friend who is a competitive powerlifter, so I kind of wanted to get her perspective.
She was telling me how, in a Strongman competition, you’re constantly doing different events. You're not sure what the event is going to be until pretty soon [before the competition]. And then you came to the WWE, the change with your character. Have you always been someone who says, I’m ready for the next thing, or were you a little resistant to that?
Braun Strowman: No, for me it's been my whole life. What can I do next? Like, I get one shot at this. What can I do? I want to leave a legacy behind. I want to carve my name in that granite of history. So with Strongman, I was able to win 2011 North American Strongman. [In] 2012 won Arnold Classic. [In] 2013, signed with WWE.
And the biggest transition coming from Strongman into professional wrestling, sports entertainment, WWE, was cardio. I was 480 pounds in my last Strongman competition and was about 405 when I showed up at the WWE Performance Center. My cardio, my gas tank was, I could give 100 percent for 90 seconds. Well, now all of a sudden I gotta wrestle 30, 45 minute matches. You gotta learn to breathe, you gotta learn to pace yourself.
So that's why, for the people that have followed my career, you can see the body transformation. I wasn’t pulling airplanes anymore. I just needed to be strong enough to pick up—who’s the heaviest—Otis right now at 370. But, I powerbomb him no problem.
Then, just learning. I was a very introverted kid, very socially uninvited, scared to be in public, scared to talk. So learning to be in front of the camera, learning to hold that microphone in front of 20, 000 people.
The company puts you in a position to be successful. They give you opportunities. What do you make of those opportunities? Life is going to give you opportunities. You might think it means nothing, but those little tiny things that you might not think mean nothing, somebody might think it means everything. So, do everything to the post.
Matthew Warhol: In your WWE run, have you said no a lot or have you kind of just been open to whatever the writer’s bring you? [I ask because] on screen, you’ve done the scary stuff with Bray [Wyatt] and the Wyatt Family, and then, you became this folk hero for the everyman.
Braun Strowman: I always say that I’m a jack of all trades, master of none, instead of a master of one. At the end of the day, we're all characters in a play and we're gears in a machine. We show up. We get a script. And my job is to make the best out of it.
Matthew Warhol: Real quick, what makes a good big man? And who’s the best big man?
Braun Strowman: I'd like to say that I've evolved what it takes to be a big man in the game. Looking back, Andre [The Giant] is one of my biggest heroes. He didn't move like I do. Granted, Andre was a little bit bigger than me.
… I'm not one to pat myself on the back, but, there's been nobody else who can do what I do. I’m still here, 41 years old, still being able to do it, and I'm pretty sure if they found somebody else who could've done it, they'd probably already be here. You want to know what it takes to be a big man? You need to watch my matches.
