During the pandemic, no Superstar, arguably, waved the WWE flag harder and higher than Drew McIntyre. The Scottish-born WWE star was the winner of the 2020 men’s WWE Royal Rumble match and shortly after that win, made it clear he wanted to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. The stage was set for one of WWE’s hottest babyfaces to slay The Beast and begin a dominant title reign.
However, tragedy struck when the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold worldwide, necessitating harsh lockdown protocols and eliminating the ability for WWE to present its product in front of live audiences. Regardless, McIntyre went on to defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania, in a surreal main event that took place at the WWE Performance Center. McIntyre went on to hold the title for 96 days, according to WWE, and after losing the championship remained in the title picture throughout the pandemic.
As restrictions began to ease, WWE looked to reignite it’s international expansion with a huge show last September called Clash at The Castle. The event took place in McIntyre’s UK backyard of Cardiff, Wales and he once again found himself in the main event picture, this time in front of thousands of fans. His opponent was Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and there was buzz The Tribal Chief’s reign could come to an end, rewarding McIntyre for the hard work he had done keeping the company afloat through hard times.
Unfortunetly for McIntyre fans, much like Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, he failed to defeat The Bloodline leader. The claymore swinging star was also on the Mania 39 card but not in the main event picture as he was busy allowing his chest to become groud beef at the hands of GUNTHER and Sheamus, in an Intercontinental title match that he came up short in.
In the months since, McIntyre has not been seen on television and rumors have swirled that he could be looking to leave WWE later this year when his contract is up. Dave Meltzer addressed McIntyre’s WWE future, and potential surprise return on WWE Raw tonight, on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
“I’ve seen some people speculate that the mystery partner will be Drew McIntyre,” Meltzer stated, referring to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn’s mystery partner tonight against IMPERIUM. “It would make sense. Right now, the last I heard, which was just a couple of days ago, was that he’s just ready for, you know, just waiting for him and creative to agree on the situation that, you know, the injury situation’s pretty much, I mean, I can’t say 100% that it’s cleared up today but I was told that the basic gist is that he’s ready to come back. Now. I wasn’t told he’s ready to come back Monday. I’ve just been told that he’s ready to come back. Close, you know, soon enough.”
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