Braun Strowman's WWE Year in Review: Full Breakdown and Grade for 2017

One Superstar unleashed hell and inflicted pain, punishment and destruction across the WWE Universe in 2017 and that Monster Among Men was Braun Strowman.

The Wyatt Family alumnus wreaked havoc, punishing everyone from Brock Lesnar to The Miz and all the while exclaiming to Roman Reigns, "I'm not finished with you!"

His matches were physical wars, his segments modern slasher flicks.

He was intense, physically intimidating and the epitome of his nickname.

He was Braun Strowman, the breakout star of 2017.

Relive his unforgettable year, find out how he graded in a number of fields and which matches and moments resonated most with audiences with this year-in-review.

In-Ring Work

If someone had told you two years ago Strowman would have some of the best matches of 2017, you would have looked them in the eye, pulled a Chris Jericho and told him to "shut...the hell...up."

As the year comes to an end, though, The Monster Among Men is riding a wave of momentum fueled by superb performances against some of the best workers in the industry. His series with Roman Reigns not only far exceeded modest expectations, it led to him becoming the breakout star of 2017.

A heavyweight badass with a power-based style, Strowman excelled at bumping opponents around the squared circle. Particularly when those opponents were the size of Reigns and Brock Lesnar, two Superstars he tossed from corner to corner with reckless abandon.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Strowman, from an in-ring perspective, is the learning curve.

Thrown into marquee matches at the end of 2016, he could have struggled to prove his worth at the top of the card. Almost instantly, though, he was working Reigns in headline bouts at live events, on episodes of Raw and in pay-per-view bouts. 

He never once looked like he did not belong in a given situation and that is a testament to his ability to learn and mesh his style with that of his opponents.

Whether he was working The Big Dog, The Beast Incarnate, The Big Show or Kane, Strowman proved himself a versatile worker who can deliver a dramatic match without necessarily having to lean on brawling and weaponry to do so.

He may just be the all-time great big man WWE chairman Vince McMahon has been seeking for the better part of a decade.

Grade: A-

Creative

Outshining Strowman's work between the ropes is the manner in which he has been booked.

One of the biggest issues with heavyweight monsters in WWE has been the company's desire to build them up for a few weeks, only to sacrifice them to the top babyface and move on. While Strowman has not been unbeatable, he is always presented in a manner that keeps him over with audiences.

He has stumbled and limped away from crashed ambulances and returned with a vengeance. He has stalked toward the squared circle, ready to unleash a world of pain on the next unfortunate victims in his path. He has thrown pieces of furniture at Reigns and become an internet meme in the process.

Strowman has routinely been presented as the unstoppable badass he is, surviving the wreckage of one war to fight another.

He also routinely takes out the trash, obliterating everyone from Curt Hawkins to Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel to The Miz, silencing some of the most insufferable Superstars on the roster for the time being.

It has earned him an enormous following and routinely results in him garnering one of the biggest ovations of the night.

It remains to be seen if he can sustain that creative support or if he will become a typical babyface who talks too much and is faced with overcoming the odds.

For now, though, fans can appreciate and enjoy what has been stellar booking for wrestling's latest, greatest monster.

Grade: A+

Historical Significance

The historical significance of Strowman's year cannot be determined yet.

That may sound like a cop-out, but in reality it will not be until he wins a championship or solidly takes his place at the top of Raw or SmackDown as the lead star that we will be able to properly judge just how important his 2017 was.

Yes, it presented him to the masses as a monster foil for Reigns, and eventually he became so popular that he turned babyface late in the year. It was the year he became a genuine star for WWE but not one where he made any sort of readily recognizable history.

Should he go on to become the next big star of WWE, the year that was for The Monster Among Men would be the jumping-off point for the company's next big thing.

Grade: C 

Greatest Moment

There are several moments in Strowman's superb 2017 that stand out, but none were essential to his growth as a bona fide main event star than the April 10 episode of Raw, where Strowman attacked Reigns while he was strapped to a stretcher.

He sent him crashing 20 feet to the ground, then tipped over the ambulance he was stuffed into. The fan reaction was off the charts, the first indication WWE might be on to something with the Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers-esque horror slasher come-to-life.

It was an act of pure fury and unmitigated violence.

The angle worked, established him as an unstoppable force and connected him with the audience in a way that has yet to be broken.

Best Match of 2017

There are several matches better from an overall quality standpoint, but it is difficult to find a fight more reflective of just how good Strowman became in 2017 than his showdown with Big Show on the April 17 episode of Raw.

That match, a war of attrition between two monsters of the mat, saw the competitors bump around for each other more than one would expect to see from massive Superstars.

The culmination of the bout, a massive superplex that left both men on their backs and the squared circle a broken and mangled mess, is one of the unforgettable moments of WWE television in 2017.

It continued to build Strowman's indestructible aura and further established him as the giant to one day supplant The World's Largest Athlete at the biggest and baddest man on the roster.

Overall Grade

In a very up-and-down year for WWE creatively and inside the squared circle, Strowman was one of the bright spots. His contributions to the product created moments and matches that helped make the year a much more memorable one for the Raw brand than it otherwise might have been.

For every repetitive match between The Bar, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, there was a jolt of energy in the form of Strowman throwing a fool around the ringside area and unleashing hell on Reigns.

He was presented unlike any other Superstar in the business at a time when the creative team was becoming somewhat complacent with the formula of the shows. His segments brought a level of excitement to shows because they were so different from the rest of the presentation.

A breath of fresh air, he was a welcome addition to shows. And to his credit, he more than lived up to his opportunities.

Now, as 2018 approaches, he will have to deliver a suitable follow-up or risk criticism and speculation he was, perhaps, a one-hit wonder.

Add in the pressure to stay fresh and interesting as a babyface in a WWE where the creative effort put into them is sacrificed and you have a tall task for the highest-graded Superstar of 2017.

Grade: A