Braun Strowman on TLC’s Garbage Truck Spot, Lack of NXT Career, More

Recent episode of the With Spandex Podcast show had Braun Strowman as the guest discussing TLC’s garbage truck moment, not having a career in NXT before his main roster call-up, and more.

On the topic of the garbage truck moment from this year’s TLC event, Strowman stated he was a bit scared to do the stunt and was also a bit worried at possibly being crushed to death.

“That was actually terrifying. I never thought to myself I was claustrophobic or anything, but being in the back of that and knowing I literally had split seconds to per se get out of the way of the compactor from being crushed, it was a little nerve-wracking. All these crazy stunts and stuff that I do, the boss pitches a lot of them to me and I don’t really worry that much, because I know he would never ask me to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself.

At the end of the day I feel comfortable doing it, because we have an unbelievable special effects team and stunt crew on hand and stuff like that, and safety is the first and foremost thought in their mind when we’re going through all this stuff. So at the end of the day I feel safe doing it, but it’s still a little nerve-wracking being in the back of a garbage truck with the potential of being crushed.”

On the topic of his lack of time in NXT, Strowman stated he enjoyed his main roster debut being a big surprise moment for fans when it happened. He also became a bit annoyed afterwards at fans claiming he didn’t “pay his dues” in the WWE because he was allowed to skip time in NXT.

“I think in the fans’ eyes, it was both. I think they were excited, because when I debuted the whole crowd was chanting, ‘Who are you? Who are you?’ So we got that shock value out of basically the people not having a clue who I was, but then at the same time, people hated me for it. ‘Oh, you skipped NXT, he didn’t pay his dues. He didn’t do this and that.’

Well, a lot of people that are that arguing I didn’t pay my dues, they don’t understand that I traveled around the world competing in strongman competitions. Paying out of my pocket for two of them to fly to all these contests. Paying the entry fees, and stuff like that. I might not have paid my dues wrestling in the indies, but I paid my dues and worked my butt off to get to where I am.

I used to get a little bitter for that and stuff, but I didn’t fault fans, because they don’t know. Fans are blind to certain things and they only want to hear and see what they want to hear, and so I just welcomed those haters with open arms laughing in the back of my mind, knowing that what I was capable of bringing to the table with WWE would just let me do it. While they did, now we’re here, and I think I’ve turned a lot of those naysayers into fans.”

Other topics discussed during the interview included Strowman revealing the original Game Boy and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening were his favorite console and game as a kid.