Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar are fated to clash for the WWE Championship at the “Granddaddy of them all,” WrestleMania 36. McIntyre seems set to be WWE’s future face of the company. Here are three reasons why the match should headline the show, and why McIntyre should emerge triumphant.
Brock Lesnar is Brock Lesnar. As much as fans complain about his lack of activity, he is undoubtedly one of the biggest draws of the last decade. Part of that draw is his real-life ability to fight as a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and All-American wrestling champion at the University of Minnesota. Further, fans seem to love “Suplex City.”
Recently, Lesnar has shown different sides of himself, including his inability to stifle his laughter with R-Truth and his promo work (this one after last year’s Money in the Bank is a great example).
His opponent (if Lesnar retains over Ricochet at Super ShowDown) is “The Scottish Psychopath” and the former “Chosen One,” Drew McIntyre. McIntyre fully admits he wasn’t ready when he was dubbed the latter by Vince McMahon and that his release was the best thing that could have happened for his career. His recent, subtle face turn has been well received, particularly him counting down from “3” to setup his Claymore Kick finisher. His face status was cemented when he Claymore Kicked Lesnar out of the Royal Rumble match (just listen to that pop).
McIntyre is one of the few wrestlers on the roster who could believably beat Lesnar in a match, and not just due to his size. He carries himself as a top star (this face turn showing how comfortable he is in the role). His in-ring work is not only great, but devastating (go look how flush that Claymore landed on Lesnar’s face). His fierce gaze with his eyes also shows he has no fear, or at least, that he isn’t intimidated by any wrestler. He also has a championship pedigree as a former RAW Tag Team Champion and NXT Champion
However, these aren’t the main reasons why I think this match should headline WrestleMania 36. While others have argued that The Fiend-Roman Reigns Universal Championship match should main event (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did), here are three reasons why McIntyre-Lesnar should close the show.
Avoid the Backlash
Since returning from his second battle with leukemia, Reigns really hasn’t sniffed a singles title. While he is still in main events on SmackDown with this never-ending feud with King Corbin, WWE has done a good job of avoiding the mistakes of 2014-2018 when Reigns was nearly unbeatable (he was more “Super Cena” than Cena).
However, in my opinion, it is too soon for Reigns not only to headline the show, but to win the Universal Championship. Give Reigns another year of a slow-build with minimal or no title matches (any title), culminating in a match at WrestleMania in 2021.
I would think differently if his opponent wasn’t The Fiend. As Kevin Parvizi discussed in his piece arguing for this main event I linked to on the opening page, arguably no act is hotter or draws as much fan interest as Bray Wyatt’s new alter-ego.
The Fiend didn’t even suffer from the obligatory backlash from fans for beating Daniel Bryan so handily (which didn’t escape Reigns when he defeated Bryan at Fastlane in 2015 to headline WrestleMania).
While he may not be as hot as when his “Firefly Funhouse” debuted, The Fiend is still an act that needs to remain strong. Whether or not he needs a top championship is for a different discussion, but since he does have the title, losing the match and title only weakens The Fiend as a character.
Rather than have the potential of fans booing Reigns for his victory, it would seem more prudent to headline with a character many fans are rooting for to beat the dastardly champion. After all, we don’t want another Philadelphia incident that even The Rock couldn’t dissipate, do we?
Be consistent in booking the Rumble winner
Well, a headlining championship match at WrestleMania, no?
Not all Royal Rumble matches have led to a title shot at WrestleMania (the first being the 1993 Rumble match), but since then, it has been promised that the Rumble match winner would “headline” WrestleMania.
However, particularly since the original brand split in 2002, that hasn’t always been the case (see: any SmackDown wrestler who has won the Rumble match, including Rey Mysterio above). This is further complicated since the introduction of the Women’s Royal Rumble match.
Still, we only have to look at 2018 where either winner of the Rumble matches (Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka) did not headline WrestleMania.
McIntyre is on RAW, however, which is still booked as WWE’s flagship show. Being on RAW is enough to catapult the McIntyre-Lesnar match to main event status.
Beyond that, think about how all of this started: in the Rumble match. McIntyre stood in the ring, stared down Lesnar, and (with the help of a low-blow form Ricochet), eliminated the WWE Champion in one fell swoop.
Beyond the elimination, what happened after helped build the story between the two when McIntyre just stared at a prone Lesnar, even eliminating other wrestlers and turning back to stare at Lesnar. It didn’t hurt when Lesnar attacked McIntyre from behind the next night on RAW after McIntyre declared his intention to face Lesnar and handling The O.C. in two minutes.
The storytelling for this feud has been done well, but there really is only one way to close this chapter.
Time to become “The Chosen One”
By the time of WrestleMania 36, it will have been about 10 and a half years since McIntyre was dubbed “The Chosen One.” McMahon did say, “He’s a future world champion,” but he never said when the future may come. To steal a line from Cena, McIntyre’s time “is now.”
As mentioned earlier, the fans are behind him. Many fans dislike Lesnar even if they see him as appointment viewing.
What better way to propel McIntyre as the face of the company than to have him defeat Lesnar (the stereotypical schoolyard bully in this scenario) clean in the middle of the ring with a Claymore (or…four), hold that championship, stand on the turnbuckle, and have the fireworks go off to a raucous reaction from the crowd as the show ends?
On a more basic level, RAW and SmackDown are in need of some top level babyface characters at the moment.
The main championships are held by heels in Lesnar and The Fiend; the RAW Tag Team Championships are held by heel Seth Rollins and Murphy; the U.S. Championship is held by (suspended) heel Andrade; the SmackDown Women’s Championship is held by heel Bayley; and the Women’s Tag Team Championships are held by heel Kabuki Warriors.
That leaves RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day, and recently crowned Intercontinental Champion Braun Strowman as your main babyface characters (I say “main” since they hold titles).
Since fans love the new version of McIntyre (version 2.0, to steal from a certain woken wrestler?) McIntyre could be what Daniel Bryan should be: the top babyface in the company.
Further, there has never been a Scottish WWE Champion. While Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant, and Sheamus have all won the WWE Championship as European-born wrestlers, they hail from Italy, France, and Ireland, respectively.
While some might say having European-born champions suffices, it just feels different when your fellow countryman/woman or a wrestler with the same racial/ethnic background emerges victorious (see: Kofi Kingston last year).
As further proof, just look at this reaction when McIntyre won the Rumble match:
Only seen reactions like this for major cup finals. Pretty damn cool #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/foxA7EJfUx
— Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) January 27, 2020
That was a pub in Glasgow, Scotland. I get goosebumps every time I watch that.
Let’s juxtapose that with Kingston winning at WrestleMania last year:
Think of what it would mean to Scots all around the world to see their countryman win the most prestigious title in the company at their biggest show. It’s basically how I would feel if Mia Yim won the NXT Women’s Championship (click here to read why).
WWE should have McIntyre win so they can turn him into what they always hoped for with Reigns: a true top level face star. I can only imagine the reactions if Lesnar wins again (though his record at WrestleMania shows he usually puts people over).
Beyond that, the story being told between McIntyre and Lesnar is gripping, as is McIntyre’s recent fun-loving but serious as all hell character. These two have the ability to put on an epic match, and it will be that much more epic when McIntyre fulfills his promise as “The Chosen One” by becoming your new WWE Champion.