WWE's Braun Strowman has struck up a friendship with the Brewers and his namesake, Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun might be a household name to baseball fans, but one WWE star has adopted the name and made it famous for another legion of fans entirely. In an interview with WTMJ-4's Lance Allan in Milwaukee, Braun Strowman said that the inspiration for his stage name was indeed the Brewers' slugger (not the former Royals pitcher).
I had pitched a bunch of different names to the company and they turned them all down. It got down to a time crunch and it's 'We need to figure something out' and we were sitting around the [WWE] Performance Center and 'SportsCenter' was on. They were talking about Ryan Braun and I was like, 'Braun. Braun ... that sounds pretty good!' Look at me; I'm 6'8'' and 385 pounds and Braun's pretty fitting.
It's fitting in other ways too, as the brawny 2011 National League MVP can still crush a baseball a long way, too.

However, Strowman (whose real name is Adam Scherr) didn't stop at simply taking Braun's name. With the help of the Brewers, he's snapped some pictures with the real Braun and taken time to go to the occasional game at Miller Park. Earlier in Spring Training this year, he met with several of the current Brewers as well:

Get these hands!!! pic.twitter.com/sp1wlyRLUg

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) February 20, 2018

The most recent visit also included a quick hype video alongside a Brewers trio that included Eric Thames, who probably has the muscles to be a WWE star in his own right:

Last-minute, non-roster invite @BraunStrowman has a message for the rest of @MLB along with @Brett_Phillips8, @EricThames and @bruter24. #CactusCrew #RAW pic.twitter.com/Fy0eKbYPSg

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) February 20, 2018

We can't be the only ones who would love to see Thames in the ring against Strowman.
Of course, there's another amusing twist to Strowman's ties to baseball. Strowman had already signed with WWE by May 2014, but that was when the similarly-named pitcher Marcus Stroman made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays. He's risen to prominence since then with big performances in the postseason and the World Baseball Classic, so maybe Strowman will say hello to him next.

Get those hands next, Strowman.
h/t Mark Townsend, Big League Stew