Drew McIntyre is Ready
Drew McIntyre decimated the Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle on Raw and cemented his place as the man to take down Brock Lesnar. Photos courtesy of WWE.
By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)
November 9, 2018
Drew McIntyre is Ready
The WWE is in disarray right now. With Roman Reigns out of commission the WWE was put into the predicament of filling the hole of the Universal Championship. Their choice…not great. Brock Lesnar won the Universal Title in a vacated title match with Braun Strowman. While many felt Strowman was ready, Lesnar was the man trusted to carry the brand going forward. Now…we await a new man to unseat the beast.
With Drew McIntyre feeling like the man in wait, since his ascent up the proverbial ladder, is there anything else we needed to see before giving him the nod. I’ll argue it just happened on Raw and coupled with the unforeseen circumstances with Reigns, I’m all systems go on McIntyre!
Lesnar is Not Enough Anymore
For the first time since I bought my WWE Network subscription, I voluntarily did not watch a Pay-Per-View event. Granted, there were some outlying circumstances that made the decision easier, but with Daniel Bryan off the card and knowing the Crown Jewel tournament was a joke…there was nothing else on the card to get me excited.
That includes Brock Lesnar.
Now, I actually assumed that Brock was going to lose to Braun Strowman. Strowman had battled Lesnar before and had put up a good fight. With Lesnar, supposedly, headed out the door, what legacy was there to salvage by making sure Lesnar didn’t lose? Apparently there is a lot, because Brock didn’t just win…he destroyed Strowman. The match included some controversy, to help protect Strowman, but this was a squash. Enough of a squash to let us know that Strowman is not being groomed to be the next “guy”.
The funny thing is, as much as I don’t hate Lesnar, his first Universal Title victory wasn’t enough for me to tune it. Again, it didn’t happen, but even that notion or possibility wasn’t enough.
And what did I think this match was going to be? Exactly what you were all subjected to. Boring offense and a character built up to be way stronger than they actually are. I just figured they’d find a way for Strowman to win with a count-out, DQ or some bologna like that. No need to watch that crap.
So for me…Brock’s dominating performance and character…just isn’t enough anymore. But this is an article about Drew McIntyre. If the dish that Lesnar is serving has gone cold, its time for something spicy and fresh to takeover. But is McIntyre better than these two? OH MY GOD, YES!
McIntyre Beating Angle was More Than a Victory
Storyline wise…I don’t really care about the Survivor Series captain. I’m not going to waste time making the argument that McIntyre proved he’s better than a Hall of Famer or obtained a “signature victory”.
Those two things did happen. But the important thing for McIntyre was how his talents, strength, and efforts helped make a match with Kurt Angle (who should be retired) damn entertaining and absolutely riveting.
This was a match that was riddled with “hold-breaks” and showed us how badly Kurt has fallen from the good ol’ days. The stamina is not there anymore. The strength is fleeting. The move-set has severely been cut. Drew McIntyre’s job: Go 10 minutes with that guy and make it look good!
And it couldn’t be enough to just beat up the old man and go down for the pin. It had to be a dominant performance, while allowing Angle (who couldn’t keep up) an opportunity to still look like he wouldn’t given up. While I don’t give two shits about Lesnar’s legacy, Angle’s is worth keeping. He didn’t deserve a squash and even this match was a bit much for his character. Regardless, McIntyre is the chosen one (even though he doesn’t carry that moniker anymore). And Angle had to go down convincingly.
The story told in this match definitely was used to build up Drew as an overpowering behemoth, but if we needed a reason to believe in his storytelling abilities on top of his strong in-ring talent, Drew proved what he is capable of. Angle did his part, but the real responsibility was placed on Drew’s shoulders and he knocked it out of the park.
Do I Need to Mention the Summer for McIntyre?
We’re deep into the fall now, but the coverage of McIntyre through the Spring and Summer was all about his potential and when would he get that main event push. He was dominant, enthusiastic, and innovative. He worked a tag feud as a way to build up a guy who had already dominated in NXT and ROH. While you could make the argument that he was ready when he signed to NXT, he never argued and never complained. He did everything he was asked to do.
He did go on quite the winning streak, but that was while other guys on the roster were given the opportunity to win over the crowd and failed miserably. Has anyone forgotten the face Bobby Lashley yet? Yeah, me neither.
And when McIntyre did get involved with the main event, albeit a stooge for Strowman, it was because he absolutely deserved it! His promo work is clean, smooth, intimidating…and I’ll say it…its damn sexy too. The Scottish Growl is one of the first audible deliveries that matches the physical specimen. Brock and Bobby Lashley…sound kinda doofy. Even Roman Reigns sounds like Fred Flinstone after smoking for 10 years. McIntyre sounds like the roaring purr of an engine, motoring a titanic ship. A ship that matches his tremendous size and speed.
So he’s physically talented, he does as he’s asked, and now he’s shown us all how impressive he can be when given a tough opponent like Kurt Angle (not tough storyline wise, but tough in regards to the responsibility in dealing with someone at this advanced point in their career). And then we also have a dogshit champion, like Brock Lesnar, a Braun Strowman who has been eradicated from the main event, and a proverbial hole in the main event, created by the loss of Roman.
The Match Might Not Come Yet, but McIntyre is Ready
Drew has come a long way and we’ve detailed it many times before. His departure from the WWE, his success in ROH and the indie circuit, his triumphant return to NXT, and then the arrival during the Superstar Shake-Up.
If you’re not onboard, you’re going to miss the ship. It’s taking off now and there appears to only be one thing standing in the way of the Scottish Psychopath: WWE creative and their big ol boner for Brock Lesnar..
As I’ve done so many times before…it’s time for the WWE to be better as they should want to be. Stephanie McMahon is claiming her company could be bigger than Disney. Not likely, but for that to start, they’ll have to have better decision making than the types of decisions that have me thinking about cancelling my subscription.
Regardless, GO DREW! And Thank you!
Enjoy the article? Every weekend the Brothers of Discussion offer more thoughts and opinions through the podcast! Listen, Subscribe and Review the Podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes! Thank you!
