Drew McIntyre’s heel turn (and feud with Cody Rhodes) is fast approaching

After leaving Jey Uso to get destroyed by The Judgment Day at the end of last week’s Raw, Drew McIntyre appeared on “Miz TV” this week to explain his inaction. However, “The Scottish Warrior” didn’t get much chance to advocate for himself.

First, The Miz spent the entire interview telling McIntyre that his leaving Uso to get stomped out was a Miz-like decision, a slick way to indicate McIntyre’s character shift. Then, he noted how he’d become an afterthought since losing the WWE Championship in 2021 and that Cody Rhodes has essentially taken his spot at the top of the card.

Shortly after that, New Day came out to question McIntyre’s lack of integrity via a number of phallic jokes. This ticked McIntyre off, leading to a match between him and Kofi Kingston.

What else hinted at Drew McIntyre’s potential heel turn?

If you were still unsure of whether McIntyre is headed toward the dark side, this match with Kingston (which, from a quality standpoint, is worth your time) cleared things up. Despite it being a babyface vs. babyface matchup, McIntyre worked the contest as the de facto heel, as he domineered over his lighter opponent.

Even more telling, when Kingston went to check on Xavier Woods after Ivar squished him, McIntyre yanked him back into the ring, hit the Claymore Kick, and pinned him clean. And when Ivar beat down Kingston after the match, McIntyre once again walked away instead of assisting his fellow babyface.

Much like last week, McIntyre’s choices are within the threshold of acceptability — it’s his job to win matches regardless of what happens outside of the ring, he did so without breaking any rules, and he’s not obligated to help anyone out — but his newfound disregard for others (particularly, his pals in the New Day) highlights his slowly decaying code of ethics.

And then there’s the growing discontent with the popular Rhodes. Between Miz’s comments, McIntyre saying that Rhodes bringing Uso to Raw was his “mess” to clean up, and him telling Kingston that he’d show him what “hard times” were, it’s clear that “The American Nightmare” will be in McIntyre’s crosshairs shortly.

A feud between the two couldn’t have come at a better time. Both men have drifted in a booking stasis since SummerSlam, so pitting them against one another seems like the best way to give each something interesting to do.

Rhodes now has a new gatekeeper to overcome on his way back to Roman Reigns. And once McIntyre completes this turn, this will be the first of many fresh matchups that should re-energize his WWE run.