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Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
Raw has spent the better part of the last several years relying heavily on a core of part-time performers, ranging from Brock Lesnar to The Undertaker, while simultaneously pushing "The Big Dog" as the unquestioned king of the red brand. But an uncertain long-term future for Lesnar and Reigns’ ongoing battle with leukemia, an obviously unfortunate and sad situation, have forced WWE’s hand. The company that has relied so heavily on Reigns and Lesnar to carry Raw’s main event picture suddenly may not be able to do that for the long haul, which has necessitated the need for new stars to become the backbone of WWE’s flagship show.
In an attempt to fill the gaps left by the irreplaceable Reigns and stars like Kevin Owens and Triple H, WWE has taken some obvious steps toward doing just that, most notably moving full steam ahead with babyface turns for both Braun Strowman and Elias while also pulling off a shocking and emotional heel turn for Dean Ambrose. Lost in all of the major happenings on Raw, however, has been the gradually and excellently executed rise of WWE’s next mega-star, who has only been on the main roster for about seven months.
Today’s WWE has often been riddled with superstars who are forced upon its fans whether those fans like it or not. Over the past several years, the company has pressured fans to accept the massive pushes of stars like Lesnar, Charlotte Flair and a slew of part-time performers despite obvious fan resistance to them. But one star who has been pushed just the right amount (not too much and not too little), is the supremely talented Drew McIntyre, who represents anything and everything a WWE superstar should be about.
Make no mistake about it: McIntyre is a classic success story. A decade ago, he debuted on WWE’s main roster as "The Chosen One" but wasn’t quite ready to live up to the moniker as Vince McMahon’s handpicked future world champion. After a career filled with ups and downs, including a drastic fall from grace when McIntyre joined the comedic stable 3MB, McIntyre was released by WWE in June 2014, then reinvented himself in Impact Wrestling and on the independent scene before returning to WWE on the NXT brand in April 2017. By August of that year, McIntyre was already NXT Champion, but he dropped the title that November as a result of a torn biceps that could have proven to derail his career and all of the hard work he had put in to get back to WWE’s main roster.
Instead, McIntyre showed up on Raw alongside Dolph Ziggler during this year’s Superstar Shakeup in April, looking like a million bucks and instantly finding himself as someone who fans viewed as a superstar with a very bright future. Reports immediately emerged stating that both Triple H and McMahon himself were "heavily involved" with the push of McIntyre and the development of his character, but in a rare twist, it wasn’t the over-the-top or in-your face type of push we’ve seen with countless other stars, when it seemed like WWE was screaming at fans, "Emotionally invest yourselves into this character or else!"
Sure, McIntyre has been highlighted and featured as one of the centerpieces of Raw, where he’s displayed impressive feats of athleticism, established himself as one of the brand’s most must-see acts and even beaten Kurt Angle, but he’s flown under-the-radar in the sense that he isn’t being force-fed to fans, like Jason Jordan was, or immediately dominating the world title picture the way that Alexa Bliss has for much of her career. More and more reports have stated that McIntyre is due for a main event level push while he has been compared to Randy Orton as a "prototype" of what WWE is looking for from its top stars.
What has been a breath of fresh air, though, is that McIntyre’s rise feels so organic and comes across as a rare case of the cream rising to the top, even though his sudden ascension to Raw’s main event picture likely was rushed a bit due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. Over the years, it has often been incredibly difficult for a number of superstars to break through that proverbial glass ceiling in WWE, but McIntyre is in the process of doing just that, beating down the door to Raw’s main event picture in much the same way his Claymore kick beats his opponents.
WWE has taken that gradual approach with McIntyre, pairing him with Ziggler in a tag team that easily could have been a major letdown and then positioning him as a tag team title contender, which could have saddled him with yet another disappointing run of mediocrity. The creative team, perhaps learning from past mistakes that have resulted from lightning quick and inorganic pushes, however, has shown true patience with McIntyre, who is generating reactions you would expect of a proven main eventer despite being on the main roster for less than a year.
Recent YouTube data indicates that the stars you would expect to draw, the likes Lesnar, Reigns and Ronda Rousey, are indeed the ones that draw, but WWE’s measured and systematic booking strategy with McIntyre could very well have him join those stars as one of the company’s top acts in the near future.
And the best part about it? Fans aren’t feeling like they’re being forced to accept it.
Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to @ForbesSports, where he primarily covers WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.
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WWE’s flagship show Monday Night Raw, rocked by the shocking and unexpected loss of Roman Reigns, suddenly finds itself in a state of flux.
Credit: WWE.comCredit: WWE.com
Raw has spent the better part of the last several years relying heavily on a core of part-time performers, ranging from Brock Lesnar to The Undertaker, while simultaneously pushing “The Big Dog” as the unquestioned king of the red brand. But an uncertain long-term future for Lesnar and Reigns’ ongoing battle with leukemia, an obviously unfortunate and sad situation, have forced WWE’s hand. The company that has relied so heavily on Reigns and Lesnar to carry Raw’s main event picture suddenly may not be able to do that for the long haul, which has necessitated the need for new stars to become the backbone of WWE’s flagship show.
In an attempt to fill the gaps left by the irreplaceable Reigns and stars like Kevin Owens and Triple H, WWE has taken some obvious steps toward doing just that, most notably moving full steam ahead with babyface turns for both Braun Strowman and Elias while also pulling off a shocking and emotional heel turn for Dean Ambrose. Lost in all of the major happenings on Raw, however, has been the gradually and excellently executed rise of WWE’s next mega-star, who has only been on the main roster for about seven months.
Today’s WWE has often been riddled with superstars who are forced upon its fans whether those fans like it or not. Over the past several years, the company has pressured fans to accept the massive pushes of stars like Lesnar, Charlotte Flair and a slew of part-time performers despite obvious fan resistance to them. But one star who has been pushed just the right amount (not too much and not too little), is the supremely talented Drew McIntyre, who represents anything and everything a WWE superstar should be about.
Make no mistake about it: McIntyre is a classic success story. A decade ago, he debuted on WWE’s main roster as “The Chosen One” but wasn’t quite ready to live up to the moniker as Vince McMahon’s handpicked future world champion. After a career filled with ups and downs, including a drastic fall from grace when McIntyre joined the comedic stable 3MB, McIntyre was released by WWE in June 2014, then reinvented himself in Impact Wrestling and on the independent scene before returning to WWE on the NXT brand in April 2017. By August of that year, McIntyre was already NXT Champion, but he dropped the title that November as a result of a torn biceps that could have proven to derail his career and all of the hard work he had put in to get back to WWE’s main roster.
Instead, McIntyre showed up on Raw alongside Dolph Ziggler during this year’s Superstar Shakeup in April, looking like a million bucks and instantly finding himself as someone who fans viewed as a superstar with a very bright future. Reports immediately emerged stating that both Triple H and McMahon himself were “heavily involved” with the push of McIntyre and the development of his character, but in a rare twist, it wasn’t the over-the-top or in-your face type of push we’ve seen with countless other stars, when it seemed like WWE was screaming at fans, “Emotionally invest yourselves into this character or else!”
Sure, McIntyre has been highlighted and featured as one of the centerpieces of Raw, where he’s displayed impressive feats of athleticism, established himself as one of the brand’s most must-see acts and even beaten Kurt Angle, but he’s flown under-the-radar in the sense that he isn’t being force-fed to fans, like Jason Jordan was, or immediately dominating the world title picture the way that Alexa Bliss has for much of her career. More and more reports have stated that McIntyre is due for a main event level push while he has been compared to Randy Orton as a “prototype” of what WWE is looking for from its top stars.
What has been a breath of fresh air, though, is that McIntyre’s rise feels so organic and comes across as a rare case of the cream rising to the top, even though his sudden ascension to Raw’s main event picture likely was rushed a bit due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. Over the years, it has often been incredibly difficult for a number of superstars to break through that proverbial glass ceiling in WWE, but McIntyre is in the process of doing just that, beating down the door to Raw’s main event picture in much the same way his Claymore kick beats his opponents.
WWE has taken that gradual approach with McIntyre, pairing him with Ziggler in a tag team that easily could have been a major letdown and then positioning him as a tag team title contender, which could have saddled him with yet another disappointing run of mediocrity. The creative team, perhaps learning from past mistakes that have resulted from lightning quick and inorganic pushes, however, has shown true patience with McIntyre, who is generating reactions you would expect of a proven main eventer despite being on the main roster for less than a year.
Recent YouTube data indicates that the stars you would expect to draw, the likes Lesnar, Reigns and Ronda Rousey, are indeed the ones that draw, but WWE’s measured and systematic booking strategy with McIntyre could very well have him join those stars as one of the company’s top acts in the near future.
And the best part about it? Fans aren’t feeling like they’re being forced to accept it.
Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to @ForbesSports, where he primarily covers WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.
