WWE Champion Drew McIntyre: A brief look into The Scotsman's run as the top champion on RAW
The main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania 36 saw Drew McIntyre defeat Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship. With this win, the Scotsman became the first British WWE Champion in WWE history. Drew McIntyre's win was widely celebrated in the UK. The Chosen One had finally fulfilled his prophecy and he did it by beating one of the most dominant Superstars in the company's history.
Drew McIntyre's run as WWE Champion started on a high note with his feud against Seth Rollins. Rollins and McIntyre have always great chemistry and it was evident during the build-up to their match at Money In The Bank. McIntyre ended up raking a decisive win over The Monday Night Messiah and successfully retained the WWE Championship. This was followed by month-long feuds against Bobby Lashley and Dolph Ziggler.
Drew McIntyre is currently scheduled to defend his WWE Championship against Randy Orton at SummerSlam. The Scottish Psychopath has had one of the better World Title runs in recent memory. But has the company put in enough effort to present McIntyre as a credible main-event star?
We have to give WWE props for their booking of Drew McIntyre since he became WWE Champion. Unlike previous babyface champions (on RAW) like Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre has looked like a killer throughout his run as the World Champion. While Drew McIntyre's presentation and booking have been to the point, his position on the card hasn't been as strong as one would've hoped.
Being the WWE Champion and the face of the company's flagship offering, one would expect McIntyre to main-event numerous pay-per-views. But, that hasn't been the case as McIntyre has yet to main-event a pay-per-view since WrestleMania 36.
While one could say that being in the main event of WrestleMania is in itself a big achievement, it still doesn't justify the company positioning McIntyre in feuds which end up being placed in the middle of a pay-per-view card.
Does Drew McIntyre as WWE Champion move the needle?
Last year, Seth Rollins main-evented six straight pay-per-views from Stomping Grounds to Crown Jewel. This was at a time when Rollins wasn't the most popular champion. In contrast, McIntyre is one of the most over Superstars in the company. While we aren't suggesting that the company put McIntyre in the main-event segment every single week on RAW, a World Champion certainly deserves the main-event spot on a pay-per-view card.
Over the past few months, non-title feuds like Orton vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins have got more precedence on WWE programming than McIntyre's title defenses against Lashley and Ziggler. Naturally, this has led to McIntyre's title reign becoming an afterthought.
Now, let's talk about ratings. Talking about television ratings in 2020 is a bit of a double-edged sword. While it is true that WWE's TV ratings have witnessed a sharp decline over the past few months, putting the entire blame on a single Superstar isn't justified.
But, given the hype surrounding Drew McIntyre's win at the Royal Rumble and his win over Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, it's assumed that ratings would remain steady especially since McIntyre was red hot at that moment. But, that hasn't been the case and there has been a constant decline in ratings during his reign. It is safe to say that Drew McIntyre hasn't moved the needle in a big way when it comes to viewership.
Drew McIntyre now finds himself locking horns against possibly the hottest star in the company, Randy Orton. Orton vs. McIntyre is a feud that fans have been wanting for a while now, with the Scotsman himself clamoring for a showdown against The Viper. Given how things stand at the moment, it wouldn't be wrong to say that Orton's odds of beating McIntyre are pretty solid.
While Drew McIntyre's run as WWE Champion hasn't been a complete disappointment, he has been let down by the creative team in more ways than one. If McIntyre were to lose on Sunday at SummerSlam, he would go down as one of the better babyface champions in recent memory but, overall, his title reign would leave a lot to be desired.