A number of current and former WWE talents were out and about Monday night as the company celebrated its "WWE Raw" debut on Netflix from the city of Los Angeles. "WWE SmackDown" star Braun Strowman, however, was not one of them. In a new Instagram post, the former WWE Universal Champion revealed the unfortunate circumstances behind his absence from "Raw" as well as last week's episode of "SmackDown."

"2025 has been off to a [rough] start for me," Strowman wrote. "I picked up some kind of a bug last week and it had absolutely whipped my ass. I laid in a hotel room for four days, three with a fever of 102 or higher for the first three days. A week later I am finally over what I think is the hump. My severe body aches are finally easing up. Today is the first day I have been able to move around and really do anything. I have lost 36lbs in this week. Had test taken and all they could determine is that it was a very bad Flu thankfully."

Strowman went on to note that in addition to the Netflix premiere of "Raw," he will also miss this week's edition of "SmackDown," which emanates from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Nevertheless, Strowman plans to be back "bigger, stronger, and badder" than ever in the near future.

"The Monster Among Men" last wrestled on the December 27 episode of "SmackDown," in which he defeated Austin Theory in singles action. Prior to that, he emerged as the first star in the "transfer window," officially moving from WWE's red brand to the blue one.