Drew McIntyre had a great reign, but it’s time for him to move on

WWE Raw’s heels have made some good points about Drew McIntyre.

“Look! Just because your 19-year dream is over doesn’t mean you get to go around, ruining everyone else’s dream!”

This promo on WWE Raw from the Miz has all the hallmarks of your average cowardly and entitled heel script, in both nature and circumstance. I mean, look at it: Miz putting the blame for his failing of the Money in the Bank cash-in on someone else. Taking potshots at the inspirational story of Drew Mcintyre. Avoiding responsibility and talking down a deserving former champion. It’s basic heel stuff.

So why are we talking about it? Because Miz is right. Drew Mclntyre’s time is over. And it’s about time WWE accepts that.

But if I could get my point across with a simple sentence, my job would be pretty easy. So, let’s dive in:

Drew McIntyre is a wolf in underdog’s clothing

Drew’s build-up to ultra-stardom honestly had me engrossed. The “19-year dream” and Prophecy of Vince Mcmahon’s former “Chosen One” would finally be fulfilled. It would come to bear at Wrestlemania 36. The browbeating of Paul Heyman would be disproven. The dominance of Lesnar would be ended. And when the bell rang for the second time in that match, Drew Mclntyre held his head high, and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship hollow.

It had everything that makes a feel-good story. But there’s a thing about feel-good stories. They end once you have that good feeling. And WWE generally doesn’t know when to end something when it’s good. Just ask DIY.

For you see, there’s a flaw in the positioning of Drew Mcintyre as this amazing, plucky, and hardworking underdog who beat the odds. Something Drew alluded to himself in the build-up to his and Brock Lesnar’s titanic match.

“I could tell by the look in his eyes. He knew I wasn’t like everyone else around here.”

Drew, while being accurate in his assessment that he struggled to win the world title in his career (At least in WWE. ICW tells a different story), he was far from some overlooked jobber.

Drew Mcintyre may have had a long road to get to the world title. But he was certainly on that road.

The same as it ever was in WWE

Despite my criticisms, I honestly count myself as a fan of Drew Mcintyre. But WWE, and frankly a lot of wrestling promotions have a problem. “The Top Five” problem.

I’m not breaking new ground bringing this up. But with how little has changed with this problem, it bears bringing up more. WWE will generally have 3-5 wrestlers who populate the main event scene for a year. They will trade title matches with one another. They will be the headline of every PPV. They will simply be THE picture of the world title scene.

For Raw this year, three of those names to populate it were Seth Rollins. Randy Orton. Drew Mcintyre. Yes, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Lashley got opportunities at the title against Drew. But did you ever feel they really had a chance? Did you think Bobby Roode was going to win the title when he faced Drew’s open challenge on Raw?

No. Because they are there to enhance the picture that Drew, Seth, and Randy populated. Until it was time for Randy Orton, in an over 20-year long career, to claim the WWE Title once again. Chances are, they account for the extra weight in Randy’s luggage on principle at this point.

The fact of the matter is, WWE needs variety. No, it’s not going to get that in Randy Orton. No, it’s not going to get that in Seth Rollins. But it can’t get it in Drew Mcintyre either.

Like I said, I counted myself a fan of Drew. But he held that title for over half a year. Of the “Lockdown Era” his reign comes close to defining it, for better or worse. And there’s a saying from a video game I played when I was a kid:

“No king rules forever.”