The Rise of Drew McInytre and Becky Lynch
My wish has come true…TWICE! Drew McIntyre and Becky Lynch continue to ascend the proverbial ladder to own the WWE and their competition. Photos courtesy of the WWE
By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)
September 22, 2018
I read another article from a competing website today that referenced a conversation with Becky Lynch. What I read was a quote, by Becky Lynch, in the Las Cruses Sun News. In the article, Becky was asked what it feels like to be the next Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Becky, flattered by the comparison, praised Austin for his years of work and then reflected on her character, Becky Lynch: “None of us want to take crap from anybody and I think that’s the same thing Becky Lynch is doing right now too. That’s the highest honor you could possibly be given (to be compared to Stone Cold).”
Reading this and then doing my own reflection on the roster made me realize how important two of our most discussed characters, on the main roster, have been to the weekly programming. While sneaking right under our noses in the spring, Becky Lynch and Drew McIntyre have become two of the strongest main characters on their respective shows, and I don’t think anyone saw this coming…except for us of course.
Dating back to the late spring month of April, the Superstar Shake-up was announced and yours truly was on the case. While everyone was excited about seeing the Miz and Daniel Bryan go toe-to-toe, the Brothers of Discussion were excited by another introduction.
When Dolph Ziggler came to the ring, only to get into an altercation with Titus Worldwide, I’d have to admit…Eye-rolling was fully engaged. But when Drew McIntyre attacked Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews from behind, I stood right out of my seat and screeched. Screeched like a little girl seeing their favorite boy band for the first time (is that still a thing? Boy bands?).
Since that attack, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler have taken out Braun Strowman (now allies), Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, won the tag team titles and the Intercontinental Title. All of these names are main event stars and help make Monday Night Raw what we know it to be.
Over the summer months I begged and pleaded with the WWE to continue to push McIntyre to the top of the card. And I didn’t want it to be instantaneous. I wanted it to be a slow build. A believable build. One of dominance and with strategically placed clean finishes. I was worried when Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Title, but like clock work, the Show (as Ziggler and McInytre, so appropriately named themselves) won the tag titles from the B-Team a few weeks later.
If you haven’t noticed the star power of Drew McIntyre, that’s fine, because its safe to say that the WWE has. Even now, when McIntyre really isn’t in the main event…he’s still IN the main event. What would Hell in a Cell be without McIntyre and Ziggler running to the top of the cage to battle with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins? And moving forward, there is a ground swell of support for McIntyre that built itself up from the notion that there needs to be more than two guys at the top of mountain (more than Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman).
This past Monday Night was one of the more important nights for Drew McIntyre. He successfully (and in a clean fashion) took down Dean Ambrose again. With no Dolph Ziggler tactics. No weapons. No cheating. Drew McIntyre took out Dean Ambrose and made it look good. When night after night revolves around making everyone look strong, it was the first time in a while that we saw the growth of a single heel.
Whats going to come soon is the divorce of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. The two are destined to have an ugly break-up that results in catapulting McIntyre to super stardom. I’m reading online that this is coming soon, but I’m hoping for it to get pushed back juuuuuuust little bit longer. Get past this Lesnar fiasco. Get past Strowman’s push. And give Ziggler a chance to find a base to land on. Its coming in the next year…but hopefully not before December.
The other super-build right now doesn’t need another strategic chess maneuver, but just more of the same. As Becky Lynch continues her growth as a new “Stone Cold”, we just need to see her fight for justice and bring down the over-privileged.
It all started back at Money in the Bank. As I reported in my review of the show, Becky was more over than bridge during a drought. The crowd went nuts for her entrance, every time she touched a ladder, and of course, on the eventual climb that we thought was going to be her crowning moment.
Later on in the summer, after a month of toiling away as the WWE tried to ignore the continuous chants of her name, Becky was given an opportunity to earn her way into the SummerSlam main event. We all know where this story went and it did fortunately result in the crowning of our new Queen.
Becky has done all she can do to get the support from the crowd needed for this work. The only thing that could hurt this is Becky’s blatant interactions with the crowd. If I were the writers for Becky, I wouldn’t have her mention any positive or negative emotion to the crowd…lemme think…jeez…ever again?
I never think any of these wrestlers are a finished product, but at the very least, we’ve seen a Becky Lynch that can believably take down Charlotte Flair in a clean victory and can be incredibly captivating on the microphone.
That being said, both of these wrestlers need, I think, one more win that will solidify their status as the main event players I think they are. Now hear me out! I want them to be considered as future champions at the drop of a hat. No more of this 4-8 month build to make them believable. Just as Roman Reigns and Charlotte will never need to climb the ladder to get a title shot, I want the same for McIntyre and Lynch. Becky needs to beat Charlotte one more time. And Drew McIntyre needs to win that Universal Title. Do that and you have two more superstars on your roster that are A+ level characters.
And not that I should have to spell it out, but putting a wrestler at that status isn’t just there to make booking your main events easier, it makes booking your entire card easier. Look at Seth Rollins (as Intercontinental Champion). Sure, we want him to be champion, but I think we all have a great appreciation for the role he is playing right now. We respect Rollins way more than the status of Nakamura (as United States Champion), who wasn’t given the chance as a WWE Champion.
Once McIntyre and Lynch get those ‘next-level’ victories, you have more opportunity to build out your weekly match cards and especially your main event match cards. We know Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre might be on their way to losing the Tag Titles tonight (as they face off against the Revival) and Becky will be building up her next match against Charlotte at Super Show Down on Tuesday.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Is Drew going to break-up with Ziggler soon? Is Becky a finished product? Do either of these superstars need another win? Where do Charlotte and Ziggler go from here?
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