Braun Strowman Set To Be Backstage At Tonight's WWE SmackDown Live

It was reported last week that

. Those who saw the show will have noticed that the Monster Among Men was missing, as it has since been reported that he wasn't even in Houston, Texas for the event - something that has been confirmed by

.

Braun was spotted in Austin, Texas on Monday evening - the location for tonight's SmackDown Live. PWI don't believe that Braun will be on tonight's show, but will instead be backstage to either film something, or get checked out by the company's medical team.

As things stand Braun is still scheduled to face Baron Corbin at the TLC pay-per-view on 16 December. Those with a keen ear will have heard on last night's show that the supposed General Manager Elect was saying he'd be winning that match "by forfeit" more regularly than he normally does, so read into that what you will.

We're just under two weeks away from that TLC match now, which will shape the next few months of top-level storylines on Raw. If Braun wins, he then gets a shot at Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. But if Baron wins, he gets to become Raw General Manager on a full-time basis. A tribute to Corbin's ascension to the position of GM was aired during last night's Raw, which to me at least, felt like a bit of a tester to gauge the response if the former Lone Wolf does indeed get the gig permanently.