I Think I Know What WWE Is Doing With Drew McIntyre Next, And I Am Not A Fan

Last Friday, Drew McIntyre won the WWE Championship on a random episode of SmackDown. Fans really, really wanted to see the Scottish Warrior dethrone Cody Rhodes, but given he’s lost to him seven times in the past few months and only beaten him once by disqualification, most people assumed it was never going to happen, especially with WrestleMania approaching. Well, we were wrong. Triple H and the writing team decided to book a little chaos, and I couldn’t be happier.

No one has done better work in the wrestling business over the last few years than Drew McIntyre. Despite being booked to lose so many big matches and take some dumb character Ls, he’s somehow stayed over with fans and kept his aura. I can’t wait to see what his title reign looks like. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I know where WWE is going to go first. I think he’s about to enter a program with Sami Zayn, and I am not a fan.

We don’t know who Drew McIntyre’s first title defense will be against, but we do know when it’ll take place. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced there will be four matches on next week’s SmackDown to determine the top contenders for the belt. The winners will face each other in a fatal fourway at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and the winner of that will face McIntyre at the Royal Rumble.

I’m excited because I love little mini tournaments with clear stakes like this, but looking over the field, I’m a little worried about what is likely going to happen. The matches are Randy Orton and The Miz, Matt Cardona and Trick Williams, Damian Priest and Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn and Ilya Dragunov. Orton is definitely going to beat The Miz, Trick is probably going to beat Matt Cardona, Priest is definitely going to beat Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn is definitely going to beat Ilya Dragunov. As much as I love Trick and see big things for him on the roster, I think a shot at the WWE Championship is a little over his head right now, given he’s been on the roster for ten minutes.

In theory, WWE could go with any of the other three. McIntyre needs to get his win back against Damian Priest. He beat the founding member of Judgment Day in a fun match at WrestleMania 41 despite fan skepticism, but he lost to him in the steel cage follow-up at Saturday Night’s Main Event. This wouldn’t be the most exciting feud in the world, but for me, it’s the best of the available options. Priest has had some good matches in big moments, and it would be nice to see him get a singles match at the Rumble. It would also be nice to see Drew just beat someone clean and announce his presence.

Another option would be to go with Randy Orton. WWE has been heavily teasing him wanting to win another world title, and putting the Viper in a big spot is never a bad idea. With John Cena officially retired, he’s the biggest legend WWE has appearing regularly, and a win over Orton would be a nice feather in McIntyre’s cap to show he should be taken seriously, especially after he didn’t win cleanly against Cody.

To be honest though, it feels really random. Yes, we’ve all wanted to see Orton go after the title, but mostly, we’ve wanted to see him go after Cody’s title. Given their history and how many times they teased a possible heel turn, that was the appealing element.

That leaves Sami Zayn, and this is the direction I think WWE is going to go in. First, he has a long history with McIntyre. WWE has brought up numerous times that he’s been unable to ever beat the current champ. In addition, the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event is taking place in Montreal, which is Zayn’s hometown. He famously lost to Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in 2023 in Montreal and got one of the hottest responses in the history of wrestling. Him winning this match would be electric.

In addition, the Royal Rumble this year is in Saudi Arabia, and the crowd there arguably loves Zayn more than any other WWE superstar. His family traces its roots back to Syria, and he speaks Arabic fluently. The atmosphere would be electric for a hypothetical match against McIntyre, as they try to root him to victory. It just makes so much sense to put Zayn in that spot, except, in my opinion, it doesn’t at all.

I want to see Zayn win a World Championship in WWE someday. I’m not a big fan of just handing out championship reigns to every person who has been over with the crowd for a decade, but trying to prove to himself that he can be world champion has been core to Zayn’s character for years. There have been times in which he’s been the hottest babyface on the entire roster. It would feel so good to give him that moment, but I don’t want it to come a few weeks after McIntyre finally won the title back. That would be such a blow to Drew’s character. Now is not the right time.

I also don’t want to see Zayn lose. How many times can we watch him get close to the championship, only to fall short? You can only tell the same story so many times before people get bored with it. I don’t think another loss in a big spot, even if the crowd is hot for his character, is good for him. We need to save this for a spot where it makes more sense.

Besides, Sami belongs in the Rumble match itself. The Saudi crowd would get behind him big time, and while he’s not the favorite, he’s someone with a non-zero chance of winning. Keeping him out to almost certainly lose in yet another heartbreaking spot to Drew feels like a giant missed opportunity. I guess it’s possible he could lose and come back later in the night to be in the Rumble too, but I don’t know if WWE would go down that route.

Sami Zayn winning in Montreal and then facing Drew McIntyre in Saudi is the best way to create a compelling short-term story. It would lead to some big moments, but long-term, I think that’s the wrong decision, especially for Sami’s character. I need to see him in the Rumble, and whenever we see him fight for a world championship next, I want to be able to fully root for him, not be conflicted because I’m worried about what a loss would do to Drew’s character.

Damian Priest isn’t the sexiest match-up option, but it makes the most sense for Drew’s character right now, and since I want WWE to tell the best story over the next six months, not the next six weeks, I’d much rather see him win than Sami Zayn.