It happened, it actually happened! In front of a shocked crowd in Berlin, Germany, Friday's episode of "SmackDown" ended with Drew McIntyre dethroning Cody Rhodes and walking out of the arena as the new WWE Undisputed Champion.
This is the third time in McIntyre's WWE career that he has been the Undisputed Champion, with his last title reign coming back in 2021 during the ThunderDome Era. His very first capture of the WWE Undisputed Championship took place at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 when he defeated Brock Lesnar inside the WWE Performance Center.
Wrestling fans have been begging for McIntyre to get a shot at being a major champion once again, and the WWE clearly believed that the time was finally right to put the company's top title back around his waist.
How long will Drew McIntyre hold onto the WWE Undisputed Championship?
McIntyre didn't just win the WWE Undisputed Championship over anyone on Friday; he took the title off of Rhodes, who has been the face of the company ever since he "finished the story" and defeated Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40.
So, to have McIntyre get his victory over Rhodes shows how much confidence the WWE truly has in the Scottish Psychopath moving forward.
How long McIntyre ends up keeping the title will be interesting to watch, especially since his previous reign as Undisputed Champion didn't last very long.
He became a two-time WWE Undisputed Champion in 2020 when he defeated Randy Orton in a No Count Out, No Disqualification match on a November 16 episode of "Monday Night RAW", and then he lost the belt 97 days later in a match against The Miz at Elimination Chamber.
WWE is in the middle of a European Tour, and coincidentally, the company's first stop after "SmackDown" on Friday is a house show in Glasgow, Scotland, on Saturday. One can expect McIntyre to receive a deafening reception from his hometown crowd once he enters the ring for the first time since becoming a three-time WWE Undisputed Champion on Friday.
After Saturday, WWE will be making several more stops throughout Europe until everyone returns to North America for an episode of "SmackDown" on January 23rd in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Having McIntyre as the WWE Undisputed Champion during the company's European Tour feels like a calculated decision, and quite frankly, a smart one.
It gives the fans in the arena the chance to cheer for a champion who is a native European like them, and it gives McIntyre another chance to prove that he still has what it takes to be regarded as one of the company's top superstars.
WWE's next Premium Live Event is the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on January 31st. Coming out of that event, will McIntyre still be the Undisputed Champion, or will the company decide by then that it wants to go in a different direction?