Braun Strowman and Ricochet were opponents on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown on FOX, but proved to be formidable allies after the show.
During the show, Ricochet got a huge win over Strowman to advance to the finals of the SmackDown World Cup Tournament.
Ricochet, representing the United States, will face Santos Escobar (Mexico) in the finals on next week’s show, with the winner earning a title match against Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER.
After SmackDown
Ricochet’s win over Strowman was far from clean, as GUNTHER and Imperium were at ringside and ensured that Braun did not win the match.
After the match, Imperium attacked Strowman, and while at first conflicted, Ricochet made the save on the man he had previously beaten.
Once SmackDown went off the air, Braun and Ricochet teamed up to face Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci.
Despite their differences on TV, Strowman and Ricochet got the win to send the crowd home happy.
Punishment?
Strowman’s loss came as a shock to some fans, but it may have been more than just WWE’s creative plans that caused this booking decision.
After losing to Ricochet, his first loss since returning to WWE in early September, fans online speculated that this was a punishment for the former Universal Champion.
Strowman earned considerable heat with fans and wrestlers after his ‘flippy floppy’ comments on Twitter, in which he mocked indie wrestling and wrestlers.
It has been reported that while Strowman has been nothing but good at WWE events ‘Social Media Braun’ has proven to be a problem for WWE’s higher-ups.