Braun Strowman Reveals He Suffered Panic Attacks After WWE Fame Exploded

One would think that someone like Braun Strowman doesn’t have many fears. That didn’t stop the Monster Among Monsters from suffering from a panic attack due to his rising star.

Braun Strowman recently opened up about the mental toll of fame while appearing on the Bert Kreischer podcast. During the conversation, Strowman discussed how being a physically large person already brought attention long before he became a WWE star.

Once Braun Strowman started appearing on television weekly, that attention increased and led to situations he was not prepared to handle. Obviously, it’s harder to hide as a monster like that.

Coming from a small town, the shift from a private life to being recognized in public created moments of intense anxiety. Braun Strowman explained that crowds and constant interactions sometimes pushed him into panic, requiring him to leave situations before they escalated.

“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. So, there’s still times when I get in crowds and like when people are starting to notice me and I start getting a little edgy, and it’s like, ‘All right, you got to get me out of here or something bad’s going to happen.’ That’s why I don’t have security to like protect me. I have security to like protect people from me.”

Braun Strowman’s comments are interesting, because he shares a common experience with many people who get fame quickly. This also shed light on the mental health challenges that can come with rapid fame in professional wrestling. Someone can go from being invisible to unavoidable overnight, and that is quite a transition.

WWE doesn’t have Braun Strowman on their roster as an active Superstar anymore. That won’t stop him from carrying the WWE banner, especially with his muckbang inspired television show where he eats everything in sight.

What’s your take on Braun Strowman’s rise to fame? How would you handle something like that? Let us know what you think in the comments section!