WWE: Has Vince McMahon bought into Drew McIntyre as a top star?

Drew McIntyre could defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 36, but it all depends on whether or not Vince McMahon is willing to go “all in” with his major push.

When Drew McIntyre Claymored Brock Lesnar directly over the top rope at the 2020 Royal Rumble, the entire WWE Universe stood in shock. The elimination was one of the defining moments of a Rumble match that featured Edge’s return to the ring and Lesnar previously disposing of everyone else in quick fashion.

McIntyre’s night would have been made by that singular elimination, which featured a seething Lesnar exiting the arena in shock. However, WWE went all the way with McIntyre that night, as he eliminated top star Roman Reigns to become the Rumble winner, setting himself up for a WrestleMania 36 showdown with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.

There’s never been a guarantee that McIntyre main events WrestleMania despite winning the Rumble match. After all, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura didn’t main event at the Show of Shows at WrestleMania 33 and 34 after winning the Rumble. Reigns did, facing The Undertaker and Lesnar in both respective matches.

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This year, there are two matches that seem to be the favorites to main event. The first is, of course, Lesnar vs. McIntyre after the events at the Rumble. And the second seems to be Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, which has been slowly built as SmackDown’s top feud for ‘Mania season.

The build to this match should begin after The Fiend defeats Goldberg on Thursday, though Goldberg vs. Reigns would also be a main event-worthy title match.

Still, after McIntyre eliminated Lesnar and stood tall as the Rumble match’s winner, there are many fans who believe that WWE has to strike while it’s hot with McIntyre.

Even so, there are others who don’t think McIntyre has shown quite enough to earn a main event spot over Reigns, who has been WWE’s top male star for the last five years and has reached new heights in his career. Furthermore, he never lost the Universal Title, which he was forced to relinquish due to leukemia. Wyatt, as an all-evil entity, would be the perfect feel-good opponent for Reigns.

So if McIntyre is to win the title in the main event of WrestleMania, he needs to check two boxes. Firstly, Vince needs to believe he’s on the level of Seth Rollins or Reigns, who are the two full-time superstars to have beaten Lesnar for a world title. And secondly, he needs to believe that McIntyre can be a top star like them, especially since McIntyre would be main eventing over Reigns.

For what it’s worth, WrestlingNews.Co’s Paul Davis recently reported that “Vince likes everything about” the former NXT Champion and likes how McIntyre represents the brand in media appearances.

Those are all important things for a top star to have, and everything about McIntyre’s journey back to WWE after reinventing himself on the indies screams “redemption as a top star”. It seems like WWE are ready to allow “The Chosen One” to fulfill his destiny, and he’s shown prodigious talent both in and out of the ring.

But is he ready to be on the level of a Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, or Seth Rollins? Those are the top three full-time superstars in WWE. By winning in the main event of WrestleMania and pinning Lesnar, no less, Drew McIntyre would enter that territory.

His chances of obtaining this opportunity all hinge on Vince McMahon’s opinion, which is impossible to predict. But based on the way things have quietly moved for McIntyre, it wouldn’t be surprising if WWE goes ahead with the next step in a bold push to the top.