Top 5 Potential Challengers For Drew McIntyre’s WWE Title

Drew McIntyre beat Randy Orton on the Raw prior to Survivor Series to set himself a date with blue brand counterpart Roman Reigns to battle for brand bragging rights. Afterwards though, it’s business as usual for the Scottish psychopath who will be looking forward to his next title defense. With that being said, lets take a look at who I think should step up and face the champ.

Keith Lee

Keith Lee has been fairly well protected since his call up from NXT, despite this, he has never quite had a plan. He is well positioned in the upper end of the card and owing to a good Survivor Series showing in the elimination match, he could be in good stead for a WWE title opportunity.

A match at TLC between the two has the potential for some big spots, a spirit bomb through a table or a claymore into a ladder could leave either man out for the count, and we could even see some of Lee’s freakish athleticism shown with a moonsault off a ladder.

This would also serve to cement Keith’s position at the top of the card, and put him over even in loss.

Mustafa Ali

Let’s get serious, Retribution has been bad, from donning thrift store Mad Max style attire and some weird names, to even weirder inconsistent booking. Retribution were never a faction taken serious, as they had no known motive, they weren’t involved in anything of significance, and they did a whole lot of nothing.

Mustafa Ali being revealed as the leader didn’t do much for the faction either, only serving to lower the stock of Ali and relegate him to the lower end of the mid card, losing to the Hurt Business.

But, how do you take them from ridiculed and reviled, and turn them into serious contenders and highlights to a show? The answer to that question is you book them higher up the card and give them a worthwhile storyline. This would set Ali in pole position to take on a serious feud with Drew at TLC, where they can battle in the namesake stipulation match, have Ali put in a good performance but Drew retain and both superstars will leave the event in a good position for the Rumble.

John Morrison

The Miz is Mr Money In The Bank, and John Morrison is his sidekick. This is the unfortunate truth of the current state of their tag team. He deserves so much better and in honesty the only way he will get the push he needs is when he is separate from The Miz. Him taking on Drew at TLC would appear to be the golden way to start their split as well, Miz has a sure fire shot at WWE gold whenever he sees fit, and that can play into their split, as it should.

Drew McIntyre vs John Morrison at TLC presents a unique cross roads of booking opportunities. Let’s get the fixed variables set in place, the match will be for WWE title, in a TLC match.

Now for the different avenues to be taken, John Morrison could go over Drew McIntyre, grabbing the belt in a shock victory, only for The Miz to come out, skull crushing finale, 1-2-3, The Miz is WWE champion, cashing in on his partner. But that makes The Miz WWE champion heading into the Rumble, not the best option. The second option is John Morrison vs Drew continues, both guys can put it all out there and after a sick bump off the top of a ladder, say through a table, The Miz can cash in to make the match a triple threat and grasp the belts. Again, this sticks the belt on The Miz.

My final booking option and my favorite is Morrison and McIntyre are having their battle, Morrison hits starship pain through a table, the match is all but won, then The Miz can hit skull-crushing finale on his buddy, cash in, receive a claymore, and Drew retains his WWE title. This would set Drew on his way to the rumble, and The Miz vs Morrison feud in action.

Sheamus

It’s a testament to the lack of credible challengers that someone I want Drew to tag team with also represents one of the more compelling feuds for the title. Drew and Sheamus have a friendship outside of the ring and it has translated onto the screen his recent weeks and has provided us with an exciting concept.

Sheamus was the one to not only gift Drew McIntyre some badass entrance attire, but hype Drew up for his win over Orton. Sheamus enters the upcoming pay-per-view a part of the men’s elimination team and its very possible that if he loses, then he may well take his frustrations out on his friend, citing an investment of time in Drew for his lack of preparation.

Ideally, I would book this feud as a slow burner, having them team and capture the tag titles before Sheamus turns on his partner. But for this scenario, we could see Sheamus turn on McIntyre sooner rather than later, and set up a clash for the upcoming TLC.

When it comes down to it, they have great chemistry and similar in-ring style, and I am all for an all British WWE title match, especially between two very hard workers who can put on a serviceable TLC match.

Drew should go over his former friend and cement himself as WWE champion heading into Royal Rumble.

Randy Orton

Orton is my number one pick to take on McIntyre in the coming weeks, and he is also my favourite to once again take the belt. After losing strap against Drew on Raw this past Monday, it goes without saying that the legend killer is going to be out for revenge. And with potential feuds against The Fiend and Edge upcoming, his stock as champion you could argue is higher than McIntyre’s beyond the battle between Drew and Roman.

It’s a match that can truly go either way, and that shows how both stars are head and shoulders above the rest of the Raw roster. Randy Orton is one RKO away from delivering his 15th world title, and Drew is a claymore away from retaining his championship, and it can build to a blink and you miss it finish.

There is also The Miz and his briefcase, if Miz was to cash in on Orton you could easily envision an RKO out of nowhere to end the cash in attempt, and head to the rumble read for his Mania feud with the belt.

There must also be a plan for Orton with the belt, otherwise we wouldn’t have seen him defeat Drew at HIAC, the only way I can imagine Orton not walking out of his upcoming match with the title is if a certain Fiend was to get involved and cost him.