In the 7th episode of Season 2, WWE Chronicle narrated the story of the Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman, and the actual person behind the character. The episode showed his real-life struggles with depression, and also never-seen-before real backstage relationship with Vince McMahon.
In a recent appearance on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast, Strowman opened up about his mental health issues, and how Vince McMahon helped him get past it.
Braun Strowman on struggling with depression
Braun Strowman revealed that towards the beginning of last year, he had a bad breakup. It was partially caused by being on the road at all times as WWE Superstar. He also felt like he had no value at his workplace. Basically, hit quite the rock bottom in his personal life. All of this happened at the same time his uncle passed away as well.
“It was a culmination of things going on in my life. The worst part about it was the beginning of last year. I went through a really bad breakup. My personal life was a mess and being a WWE Superstar, it is really hard to balance the road life and your personal life and that’s part of the reason the relationship did not work out. I got to a point where I felt like I wasn’t important at work, so I had no escape. My mind was all over the place and I was by myself.”
He also said how he finally purchased the house of his dreams right on a lake. But he could barely enjoy living in it because of his condition. However, he called out the media for putting the blame on WWE and how the company was booking Strowman.
He asserted that was not at all the case. In fact, WWE was the only positive thing in his life, and it was his own mind that was affecting his profession – not the other way round. This is when he went to talk to Vince McMahon to address the issue and clarify a few things.
Vince McMahon helped The Monster Among Men out
Strowman shared that WWE CEO Vince McMahon had a heart-to-heart conversation with him. It is something that Strowman will always be indebted for.
McMahon reassured him that he was needed in WWE and he was one of the reasons their shows were seeing success.
“I went in and talked to Vince and we sat down. I literally had a father/son conversation and he gave me this reassurance and this sense of wealth that I thought I didn’t have. I can’t thank him enough for taking the time as he has so much stuff going on. It gave me even more a friendship I have with him. I am forever indebted for him to take the time to give me this reassurance that said you are not just coming to work for no reason. You are coming to work because I need you here. I want you here. You are one of the reasons our show is successful. That’s what I needed to hear to give me that reassurance. I realized it’s not as bad as I think it is. It helped me kick out of that funk I was in my personal life.”
Braun Strowman revealed that one of the biggest reasons why he did not go through with his suicidal thoughts was because he thought it would selfish to do that to his family, friends, cousins, and above all, his fans.
“I can’t do this to myself because what will this do to my parents, my cousins, my friends, my fans around the world that look up to me and lean on me?”
ADDED: WWE Chronicle – Braun Strowman S2020E5 (08/29/2020) https://t.co/qL9olbDbZz #WWE #WWENetwork #WweChronicle
— WWE Network Updates (@WWE_Network_Bot) August 29, 2020
