WWE Building Drew McIntyre As Future Star

It’s only been about a month, and Drew McIntyre already feels like a big deal.

There were wrestling fans who groaned when WWE put him alongside Dolph Ziggler in a tag team on Monday Night Raw. I see the point. Ziggler has toiled in the upper-midcard for years, without breaking into the main-event picture and there are plenty of people who thought he deserved a spot on top. Those same people, at least the vocal ones, think the same of Drew McIntyre, and pairing Ziggler and McIntyre together could have slid McIntyre into the same tier on the WWE roster.

However, looking at how McIntyre has been booked on Raw, those concerns seem unfounded.

Especially later, McIntyre is separating himself from the pack, which sounds funny, because the pack is really only those two guys. But McIntyre is clearly getting more of the spotlight than Ziggler.

On this week’s Raw, McIntyre beat Chad Gable in quick and convincing fashion. The more eye-opening part of that segment, though, was that McIntyre did not employ the help of Ziggler to win the match. He went over clean, without help. That’s usually reserved for big babyfaces, not someone who is in a heel tag team, that’s working in a singles match on Raw.

Even the announcers were playing up McIntyre in a way that makes you believe WWE has bigger plans for him than being Ziggler’s muscle.

McIntyre has serious main-event potential. WWE pushed him as the “Chosen One” when he debuted with the company as a 24-year-old in the company in 2009. He has the size and the look to be considered a serious threat in the main event picture, and at the same time, his promo skills have improved mightily since his first run with the company. That was something McIntyre really polished when he worked for Impact Wrestling, working on top for the most part in the heavyweight title picture.

McIntyre’s promo style — sometimes he’s too much of a screaming babyface — can come across a little too loud at times, but his work as a heel (which he’s doing now) can fit well into WWE’s storytelling. His promo style as a heel — a slower, darker promo similar to Jake the Snake — works really well.

McIntyre is going to be a star at some point. It feels just like a matter of time. And if WWE is willing to let him ride out his character as a heel, that’s going to mean big business for everyone involved.