Braun Strowman Is the Modern-Day Version of Gene Snitsky

Whatever section of the underworld that Braun Strowman emerged from must have also birthed Gene Snitsky.

The two lumbering monsters share an uncanny resemblance that goes beyond their girth and facial features. Strowman, like Snitsky before him, is an unsettling giant, a character marked by darkness and an act with a short shelf life.

At times, when one watches Strowman glare at his foes with a distinctly Snitsky-esque expression, it's hard to imagine that he's not kin to the man famous for claiming, "It's not my fault!"

A part of that is that Strowman is the same height as Snitsky (6'8'') and looks like a bearded, bulkier version of the former WWE bruiser. But it's also that pro wrestling so often reprises old narratives.

Snitsky was a frightening psychopath with an intimidating frame. He stomped on lesser foes. He was meant to be grotesque, more creature than man.

Credit: WWE.com

Seven years after Snitsky left the company, WWE replayed that trope with Strowman. Where Snitsky chilled the crowd with his baldness (including shaved eyebrows), Strowman adds to his creepiness by way of an overgrown beard and a black sheep mask.

In the end, the look to achieve the same result—terror.

Monsters in the Same Vein

If Snitsky's shtick in the mid-2000s was the original, Strowman is the revamped sequel.

Snitsky began as a more standard wrestling brute. He was mean and intense but didn't reach the apex of his character until he underwent a transformation in 2007. WWE sent him to its watered-down version of ECW.

There, he cut of all his hair, sported discolored teeth and had red marks across his face. He had gone from generic large adversary to horror-movie villain.

WWE booked him as such, as he swatted down low-level opponents from Matt Striker to Balls Mahoney.

Company officials looked to have the same line of thinking when presenting Strowman to the audience. He stared wide-eyed at the camera much like Snitsky did before him. He was a stalking, brooding, overwhelming force like him, too.

Credit: WWE.com

Early on, Strowman didn't even hit the mat. He was the unstoppable colossus, choking out foe after foe. 

A 1-Note Symphony of Destruction

Fans don't sit down to watch a Strowman match and expect to see Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask. Instead, his in-ring style reminds one of a bulldozer.

He plows straight ahead with an offense dependent on power and mauling. He doesn't execute wrestling moves as much as he just bowls over people.

His matches are all about intensity and intimidation.

When asked to go longer than a few minutes or do something other than straightforward dismantling, he struggles. Justin LaBar, host of Chair Shot Reality, pointed out how lost he looked during the tables match at TLC:

Blame some of that on inexperience, but it's not as if Strowman will be Seth Rollins five years from now. He's a big man who works like a big man. His character will always be more memorable than his matches.

The same was true for Snitsky.

Ask fans what they remember of him, and they will inevitably recall his catchphrase, his odd look or the time he punted a fake baby. There won't be much conversation about his actual bouts.

While Snitsky was faster and more fleet-footed than the beefier Strowman, he employed a similar offense. The big man kicked his foes with his boot and slammed them to the ground, and then repeated the pattern.

Both that limited in-ring repertoire and the finite nature of these kind of characters led to Snitsky exiting after a short WWE stint.

Fear Fades, Behemoths Withdraw

WWE called up Snitsky too soon.

He wasn't nearly seasoned enough when he and Kane began feuding in 2004. Snitsky had only been in the development system for a year, and Ohio Valley Wrestling was light-years behind what NXT is today.

But bringing him in as a monster to collide with Kane made sense storyline-wise, so the company kept him on the main roster despite his limitations.

After that narrative ended, WWE had him transform into something out of a Victor Hugo novel and dominate at ECW. Eric Bischoff and others had him do their bidding, Snitsky playing the giant puppet to a variety of puppet masters.

Credit: WWE.com

That run of destruction couldn't last forever, though. How long could WWE have him play Goliath before the eventual collision with a David?

Snitsky left after four years.

The act had lost its momentum. WWE had gotten everything it was going to get from him. Some see that as a failure on his part. Michael Wonsover of Today's Knockout wrote, "The fans failed to connect with Heidenreich and Snitsky, making both failed projects and eventual WWE burnouts."

But it's rare that a monster can maintain its position in the WWE world. Kane is one of the few exceptions, and he's surely headed for the Hall of Fame.

Strowman doesn't need to be around through three decades like Kane to be considered a success to a degree.

Like Snitsky, WWE fast-tracked him out of the developmental system. He was the perfect fit as a means to expand The Wyatt Family. And so despite his greenness and limits, WWE plugged him into that tale.

At last year's Survivor Series, he joined his fellow Wyatt posse members, strangely enough, in a battle against Snitsky's old enemy Kane.

Strowman is a pawn much like Snitsky was, but rather than wander from master to master, he remains loyal to Bray Wyatt. Being part of a group allows WWE to hide his weaknesses more than Snitsky could.

Wyatt does the majority of the talking. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan do the bulk of the heavy lifting in the ring. That leaves Strowman to simply exude monstrousness, to play the role of overpowering creature in spurts.

But that can't last forever.

Once his invulnerability goes away, once a handful of babyfaces defeat him, the appeal of his character will fade. Who wants to see what happens to the dragon that has been conquered five times over?

And so, like Snitsky, sticking around for nearly half a decade is a reasonable expectation.

Strowman has yet to have his punt-the-baby moment or issue a catchphrase that sticks to the brain like, "It's not my fault." Still, he looks well on his way to continuing the tradition that Snitsky was a part of, to being remembered as a disturbing entry in the WWE timeline.