Braun Strowman reveals he had panic attacks in public after becoming famous in WWE

Braun Strowman has revealed that the fame he got as a WWE superstar came at a cost. The 6 ft 8 in monster has said that he comes from a small town, and once he got attention as a superstar, while appearing on television, the fame that came along made it difficult for him at times in public.

While speaking on the Bert Kreischer podcast recently, Strowman said that he used to get panic attacks when a lot of people surrounded him. He opened up about not being able to handle the stress that came with public appearances.

“I dealt with a lot of that. And then same thing, like I—I was a small—I grew up in a small town. I graduated high school, there’s like 400 kids in my high school. I’m the town mechanic to all of a sudden a couple years later, I’m on television on WWE in front of four million people every week. And you talk about developing social anxiety—I had like panic attack meltdowns in public before with getting bombarded with people coming up and not knowing how to handle [it] and all this other stuff." [H/T: Ringside News]

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He also said that there are times when the crowd around him makes him a "little edgy" and he just tries to escape them, fearing something bad might happen. Strowman hilariously mentioned that the security he has is for the people around him and not for himself, so that he doesn't end up causing them any harm.

The former WWE Universal Champion became a household name in 2015 when he made his WWE debut as part of The Wyatt Sicks. The eerie faction became famous, and Strowman's popularity reached unprecedented levels.

He separated from the faction in 2016 after the WWE Drafts, and the company started pushing him as a singles superstar. He soon started feuding with superstars like Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins. In 2020, he became the Universal Champion after beating Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 after replacing Roman Reigns at the last moment. He dropped the gold to Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam 2020, ending his first title reign after 141 days.

In June 2021, Strowman was released by WWE, and he went to other promotions like the Ring of Honor and Control Your Narrative. However, the company brought him back in 2022, and he stayed for another three years, until being released recently in May 2025, after his contract expiry.

Since then, he hasn't joined any other promotion and is seemingly on a break. In the meantime, he hosts the TV series, Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman, on USA Network.

Braun Strowman speaks on returning to WWE

While speaking on the Battleground Podcast recently, Strowman joked that he intends to return to the Stamford-based promotion, but he'll have "to figure out the money side of it." It was reported that Strowman was released by WWE because of his high pay cheque.

However, on a serious note, he mentioned that he does miss the wrestling ring, the locker room, and everything that came along with it.

"But no, honestly, I miss being in the ring, and I miss being in the locker room. A lot of the other stuff that comes along with it, I’m enjoying the break from. Because it’s very stressful. I mean, I’m still traveling a lot, but I’m getting to travel instead of, like, all right, it gets to where it’s a job. Now, I’m doing [stuff] I’m really excited [about]," Strowman added. [H/T: 411Mania]

In wrestling, nothing is impossible. Braun Strowman is still a big name outside WWE, and if the two parties come to a common platform on the money issue, then his return is possible. We'll see how it goes.

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Edited by Mohammad Bilal