WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman appeared on the April 5 version of WWE’s The Bump and discussed his victory at WWE WrestleMania 36. Here are some highlights.
On how he found out he’d be facing Goldberg at WrestleMania:
Strowman: “It’s probably the craziest 24 hours of my life. I loaded up last week and when everything was starting to lock down in Florida I was like I wanna go get in the country, I got some land up here in Wisconsin, I come up here to see my family and get away. Head a little bit, drive 21 hours and was an hour away from home and I got a phone call: there’s been some changes, we need you, it’s an emergency ,we’re sending a jet to get you, you leave at 9 PM so I literally got into Wisconsin for 3 hours, went back, jumped on a jet, flew back to Orlando, landed at 1:30 in the morning, got up, hit the ground running and lo and behold came out of the back end the new universal champion.”
On how he felt winning the title:
Strowman: “You know, it’s surreal, it really is. I mean since I’ve started doing this, I’ve had naysayers and haters per se say that I would never never hold that title, that that wasn’t a title for a guy like me, the way I look, the way I wrestle, the way I carry myself, and you know it’s a great feeling being able to make people like that eat crow and, you know, show the world that even when people doubt you and say that you can’t accomplish something, that if you’re willing to work and, you know, put everything you have in your being and power into a mindset of achieving something in life, that you can do it. I mean, from the day I started with WWE, I knew that I was gonna hold that title, I knew that I was gonna hold the most prestigious award that this company has to give out and I am beyond honored to know that I am representing WWE, holding the Universal Championship right now.”
On beating Goldberg :
Strowman: “It’s Bill freaking Goldberg. I mean, it’s Bill Goldberg for crying out loud. I mean, I watched him as a late teenager and, you know, just was head over heels because he would go out there and he would tell you he was gonna stomp your butt and he would go out there and he did it man. And Goldberg is iconic and I can’t thank him enough for, you know, even giving me the opportunity or wanting to work with me per se or however this happened, it’s mind-blowing just thinking about it. I still am having a hard time trying to wrap my head around all this because it feels like a fairy tale. I’m waiting to get pinched, to wake up and I’m just back changing tires at the little pit stop.”
On who he’s eyeing as the challengers for his title:
Strowman: “You know here’s the thing, I’m bringing the title back to SmackDown and gonna represent it week in and week out. And I’m open for anybody, I wanna make this title mean something. You know, we’ve had so many guys in the last 2-3 years holding this title that show up when they feel like working and it’s convenient for them or when the paycheck’s right. You know what man, I don’t care, I wrestle the exact same, whether it’s in front of zero people or a hundred thousand people because I know that people pay their hard-earned money to come and get taken out of reality. They invest themselves emotionally in me and, you know what, it’s my job to go out there and perform for them and entertain them and I absolutely love it.”
Here’s an excerpt from the appearance:
RELATED: Braun Strowman Reacts To Winning Universal Title, Enjoys Photoshoot With Belt
