Braun Strowman

Adam Joseph Scherr (born September 6, 1983) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, strongman and actor. As a wrestler, he is best known for his tenures in WWE where he performed under the ring name Braun Strowman.

Before professional wrestling, Scherr began his strongman career in 2010 when he won the NAS Amateur National Championships in 2011, and the Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships in 2012. After his retirement from strongman athletics, Scherr transitioned into professional wrestling and signed a contract with WWE in 2013; he wrestled on its NXT developmental brand under the name Braun Strowman. Upon debuting on the main roster in 2015, Strowman became part of The Wyatt Family.

Scherr has held the WWE Universal Championship once, in 2020 and has headlined many pay-per-view events for WWE. He is tied with Shayna Baszler for the most eliminations in a single Elimination Chamber match with five, tied with Brock Lesnar for the most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match with 13, holds the record for most eliminations in a single André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with 14, and he is tied for the most eliminations in a single Survivor Series elimination match with four.

Adam Scherr was born on September 6, 1983, in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, near Charlotte, to Sara and Rick "Crusher" Scherr. His father is widely regarded as one of the greatest slow-pitch softball players of all time, and is a USSSA Hall of Fame member who still holds the All Time World Series records in home runs (101), hits (166), and RBI (202). Scherr has a younger sister named Hannah. Growing up, he spent time in Arkansas and Tennessee. He attended Bandys High School, where he was on the football, track and field, and wrestling teams. He went through a significant growth spurt in high school; he was 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) during his freshman year and grew to 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) by the time he graduated. After graduating in 2001, he "goofed off" until 2003, when he enrolled in a community college. He spent the next four years playing football semi-professionally for the Hickory Hornets, supplementing his income by working as a doorman and mechanic. Scherr attended the NFL Scouting Combine in 2007, but he ultimately did not turn professional. In the late 2000s, he began competing in amateur strongman competitions.

Scherr earned his Strongman Corporation (ASC) Professional Card by winning the NAS Amateur National Championships on November 5, 2011. He won the 2012 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships on March 4, which took place during the Arnold Sports Festival alongside the 2012 Arnold Strongman Classic. This victory earned Scherr an invite to the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic. He competed in the SCL North American Championships on July 8, 2012, finishing in 5th place overall as well as competing in the Giants Live Poland event on July 21, finishing in 7th place overall and earned his nickname "The Straw Man".

Scherr signed a contract with the professional wrestling promotion WWE in early 2013 and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, where he adopted the ring name Braun Strowman (with the first name a reference to Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, and the last name a tweaked version of a nickname he earned during his Strongman career, "The Straw Man"). In 2014, he made appearances as one of Adam Rose's "Rosebuds" in his Exotic Express gimmick. He made his professional wrestling debut at an NXT live event in Jacksonville, Florida on December 19, 2014, defeating Chad Gable. On June 2, 2015, Strowman appeared at a Main Event taping in a dark match, where he defeated an unidentified wrestler.

On the August 24 episode of Raw, Strowman made his main roster debut as a heel by attacking Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns and establishing himself as the newest member of The Wyatt Family alongside Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Strowman had his first televised singles match on the August 31 episode of Raw, defeating Ambrose by disqualification. Strowman wrestled in his first WWE pay-per-view event match on September 20 at Night of Champions, where The Wyatt Family defeated Ambrose, Reigns and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match after Jericho passed out to Strowman's lifting arm triangle choke. On December 13 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, The Wyatt Family defeated The ECW Originals (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley (collectively known as The Dudley Boyz), Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer) in an eight-man tag team elimination tables match.

On January 24, 2016, Strowman appeared at the Royal Rumble and scored among the most eliminations in the Royal Rumble match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, eliminating five opponents before being eliminated by Brock Lesnar, only to return to the match and help his fellow Wyatt Family members eliminate Lesnar. At Fastlane on February 21, The Wyatt Family lost to Big Show, Kane and Ryback, but got their win back in a rematch the next night on Raw. On April 3 at WrestleMania 32, he appeared during The Rock and John Cena's confrontation with The Wyatt Family, suffering a Rock Bottom after being volleyed back and forth between Cena and Rock in the process. The Wyatt Family were originally scheduled to face The League of Nations on May 1 at Payback, but the match was canceled after Wyatt suffered a legitimate injury. The Wyatt Family soon began a feud with the WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day, defeating them in a six-man tag team match on July 24 at Battleground.