Former Universal Champion Braun Strowman was brought back to WWE on the Sept. 5 episode of Raw, just 15 months after he was released from the company.

Days before Strowman returned, it was reported that he and WWE agreed to a new contract. Strowman was released on June 2, 2021, while Vince McMahon was still in charge of the company. Lana, Santana Garrett, Aleister Black, Ruby Riott and Buddy Murphy were also released that day.

The 39-year-old Strowman made his highly-anticipated WWE return during a Fatal 4-Way tag team match on the Sept. 5 Raw show. The bout featured the tag teams of The Street Profits, Alpha Academy, New Day and Los Lotharios, and it ended in a no-contest because of Strowman's interference.

It was easy to assume that Strowman would quickly land in another promotion following the expiration of his non-compete clause. But during an interview with Corey Graves on WWE's "After The Bell" (h/t WrestlingNews.co), The Monster Among Men explained that he would never wrestle for a promotion outside of WWE:

"We talked to everybody. People reached out about stuff and you know, I kind of played around with the ideas and I always said in interviews, and people thought I was stupid for it, I said I would never put on a pair of boots for anybody besides WWE and I stuck to my word. I never put on another pair of boots.

I went out, started my own thing, worked for myself, gave young talent a place to come and work and make a living, hone their craft inside CYN and like I said, I stuck to my guns. I will never wrestle for anyone other than myself or WWE, and here we are. The monster is home."

Braun Strowman in WWE

Vince announced his retirement from WWE on July 22 after leading the promotion for 40 years. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan took over as the co-CEOs, with Triple H (Paul Levesque) taking over the Head of Talent Relations as well as the leader of the WWE creative team.

Triple H has brought back a plethora of previously released stars since his promotion. Dakota Kai was the first to return at SummerSlam 2022 weekend, with Karrion Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, Dexter Lumis, Hit Row (Top Dolla, B-Fab and Ashante "Thee" Adonis) and Strowman following.

Braun Strowman's Last WWE Match

Strowman's most recent WWE match took place at the 2021 WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view. He competed in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship with Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre, which The Almighty won by pinning The Monster Among Men.

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