Braun Strowman Under Fire for Recent Comments About Financial Assistance in Wake of WWE Releases: ‘Didn’t Age Well’

Braun Strowman, a former strongman-turned-WWE star, drew criticism in late March when he made comments about people asking for financial assistance through Patreon and similar platforms. AEW’s Evil Uno had asked fans to support independents through merchandise purchases or donations, and Strowman responded by telling people to change professions in order to pay their bills. Weeks later, he is drawing even more criticism on social media following WWE layoffs.

A Twitter user posted a screenshot of Strowman’s now-deleted comments and in order to call him out. They referenced the news that WWE laid off Kurt Angle and nine wrestlers on Wednesday due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in addition to other backstage personnel. According to the Twitter user, Strowman’s comments didn’t “age too well” considering that two of his friends were among those impacted. This led to some users asking if he was going to “pay his friends’ bills.”

“Braun is a Piece of trash. Wonder what he thinks that’s 2 of his closest friends are indie stars now, the tables have turned,” one person commented on Twitter. Others weighed in and agreed with this sentiment. Although one user did say that it’s “not really the time” to be calling out the professional wrestler for old comments.

While Strowman’s original comments were deleted from Instagram, they later surfaced on Twitter through social media. Several wrestling fans made remarks about a pandemic happening and how they felt that he should donate to find a cure. Strowman did respond to a number of people on social media and listed the ways that he has been helping.

“I literally donated 5k of my own money to research this week and have been working really hard with company’s I’m affiliated with to help with charity’s and to get funds and supply’s to people that can’t physically take care of there selfs,” Strowman wrote. He also talked about delivering groceries to those near him. Strowman specifically mentioned working with charities to help get funds and supplies to those that can’t physically do it themselves.

Finally, Strowman revealed that he hasn’t been receiving a paycheck from WWE due to being an “independent contractor.” He said that he only gets paid when he works, and that has not been happening lately. This news caught many by surprise. They expected Strowman to be receiving some form of compensation despite not taking part in recent events.