Scherr's father, Rick, is widely regarded as one of the greatest slow pitch softball players. Nicknamed the "Crusher", he is still the USSSA All Time World Series leader in home runs (101), hits (166) and RBIs (202), and in 1994, he was inducted into the USSSA Hall of Fame.

Scherr grew up in the small town of Sherrills Ford, North Carolina. He attended Bandys High School, where he was on the football, track and field, and wrestling teams. After graduating in 2001, Scherr "goofed off" until 2003, when he enrolled in a community college. He spent the next four years playing football semi-professionally for the Hickory Hornets, supplementing his income by working as a doorman and mechanic. Scherr attended the NFL Scouting Combine in 2007, but ultimately did not turn professional. In the late 2000s, he began competing in amateur strongman competitions.

Scherr earned his Strongman Corporation (ASC) Professional Card by winning the NAS US Amateur National Championships on November 5, 2011. He won the 2012 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships on March 4, 2012, which took place during the Arnold Sports Festival alongside the 2012 Arnold Strongman Classic. This victory earned Scherr an invite to the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic. He competed in the SCL North American Championships on July 8, 2012, finishing in 5th place overall, as well as competing in the Giants Live Poland event on July 21, 2012, finishing in 7th place overall.

Scherr signed a contract with the professional wrestling promotion WWE in early 2013. He was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, where he adopted the ring name "Braun Stowman" (with his given name a reference to Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun). He made his professional wrestling debut at an NXT live event in Jacksonville, Florida on December 19, 2014, defeating Chad Gable. On June 2, 2015, Stowman appeared at a Main Event taping in a dark match, where he defeated an unidentified Wrestler. Scherr also made appearances as one of Adam Rose's "Rosebuds" in his Exotic Express gimmick.

On August 24, 2015 episode of Raw, Scherr, under the tweaked ring name Braun Strowman, made his main roster debut by attacking Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns and establishing himself as the newest member of the Wyatt Family alongside Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Strowman had his first televised singles match on the August 31 episode of Raw, when he defeated Ambrose via disqualification. Strowman wrestled in his first pay-per-view event match at Night of Champions on September 20, where The Wyatt Family defeated Ambrose, Reigns and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match after Jericho passed out to Strowman's lifting arm triangle choke. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, The Wyatt Family defeated The ECW Originals (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley (collectively known as The Dudley Boyz), Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer) in a eight-man tag team elimination tables match.

Strowman made his video game debut in WWE 2K17 (2016) as a playable character. He subsequently appeared in WWE 2K18 (2017).

After the May 8, 2017, Raw, WWE claimed that Strowman had a legitimate injury with a shattered elbow, and would therefore be sidelined for about six months. This also caused a change in the schedule, with the planned match between him and Brock Lesnar at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view having to be scrapped. Strowman underwent surgery three days later in May 11. However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that while Strowman's elbow injury was indeed legitimate, it was minor, scheduled to sideline him for only two months, with WWE exaggerating it in order for him to make a surprise return "four months early". On the June 19 episode of Raw, Strowman returned from injury, attacking Roman Reigns after his match against Samoa Joe. Strowman then challenged Reigns to an ambulance match at Great Balls of Fire, in which he won at the event, but was subsequently attacked and locked inside by Reigns, who would drive it backwards into a production truck. A day later on Raw, it was revealed that Strowman was able to walk away from the crash and despite being dazed, he refused help from the medical staff. Strowman then cost Reigns a number one contender's match against Samoa Joe, which ended in a no-contest after he attacked both men.

In January 2018, Strowman was announced as one of the participants, along with Kane and Lesnar, in a triple threat match for the WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. On the January 8 episode of Raw, Strowman brutally attacked both Kane and Lesnar as the latter two were brawling, knocking both of them semi-conscious in the backstage area. Before anyone could aid them, Strowman took a grappling hook and pulled down a lighting truss onto Lesnar and Kane, crushing them underneath. On the Jan. 15 Raw, Angle confronted Strowman in the ring, telling him his actions went too far and, after removing him from the triple threat match, fired him. Strowman went on a rampage backstage, including destroying Angle's office, flipping over the cab of a semitrailer truck (containing the production area, this after threatening the production staff) and brutally attacking Raw lead announcer Michael Cole. Before he could do any more damage, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon rehired Strowman, putting him back into the triple threat match at the Royal Rumble. At the event, Strowman failed to win the title after Lesnar pinned Kane. Next night on Raw, Strowman defeated Kane in Last Man Standing match to qualify for the 2018 Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Braun Strowman eliminated five superstars, but in the end he was eliminated by Roman Reigns.