WWE can’t let Drew McIntyre become an afterthought

After a disappointingly early exit from the King of the Ring tournament, WWE needs to ensure they continue to push Drew McIntyre

It might seem hard to believe if you’re relatively new to watching WWE, but there was actually quite a bit of buzz about the main event potential of Drew McIntyre before WrestleMania.

His match with Roman Reigns at the show, which could easily have been interpreted as a massive stage for McIntyre to display his talents in, admittedly may not have been as spectacular as expected.

Nonetheless, it still seemed like a springboard for “The Scottish Psychopath” to plant his flag in the main event scene once and for all.

An odd stint as Shane McMahon’s bodyguard, mid-card feud with Cedric Alexander, and now a quick exit from the King of the Ring tournament later, and the Drew McIntyre from that WrestleMania period is starting to feel long gone.

It’s a shame, really. I don’t think anyone needs reminded of the immense physical gifts McIntyre has, or his oftentimes incredibly abilities in the ring. He’s just one of those superstars with top star written all over him, yet he honestly couldn’t be further from that spotlight right about now.

For too long, McIntyre has felt like he’s treading water, almost as if WWE was waiting for just the right time to unleash him into the main event. That time could have been at Clash of Champions when he took his spot as King of the Ring, or it could have even been during his feud with Roman Reigns as Shane McMahon’s bodyguard when The Undertaker got involved at SummerSlam.

Neither of those opportunities were taken though, leaving Drew McIntyre at a bit of a crossroads.

Although his future could easily be that of someone like Samoa Joe, where he enters and exits rivalries as needed without much consequence, he could still be much more. WWE still has time to push McIntyre straight to the top.

At the moment, it just depends on how they proceed with McIntyre from here.

Despite his loss in King of the Ring, McIntyre can still be featured at Clash of Champions. WWE has enough time to build a solid mid-card feud for him, one that could potentially see him fighting someone like Ricochet again if he were to exit from the aforementioned tournament sooner rather than later.

That could then be exactly the launching pad McIntyre needed to propel himself into a world title picture, potentially as something like a third wheel to the ongoing Intercontinental or United States Championship scenes.

That would certainly be a massive boon for Drew McIntyre, one that could then translate into more sustained success at increasingly higher levels of competition if executed properly by WWE.

On the other hand, McIntyre could just as easily be left off of the Clash of Champions card. He could spiral out from there, bouncing between midcard feuds and placeholder roles for who knows how long.

It really all starts with what WWE does from here.

I would bet few people had McIntyre pegged as taking a first round exit from King of the Ring, but we’re here. We’ve been down this road of missed opportunities for McIntyre many times before at this point.

WWE just needs to do something different this time. They need to make the most out of McIntyre’s current directionless state by simply not allowing one of their brightest stars to continue to fall by the wayside in the coming months.