#4 Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre’s year began as a crowd-favorite to defeat ‘The Beast’ Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at some point in the year.
In January, he competed in a Fatal 4-way match to determine the #1 contender for the Championship at Royal Rumble. He fought against Finn Balor, John Cena, and Baron Corbin, but lost the match.
Throughout the first quarter, he fought to stay relevant on the upper card on RAW, but could not get as many good bookings as he’d have liked. After forming an alliance with Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley, he went after The Shield but their efforts did not bear fruit.
He lost a match to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35, after which he struggled to stay afloat at the top of the roster.
At a time when fans wanted to watch the villainous heel succeed and become a top Champion in the company, his bookings kept him down while reports kept emerging that he was in line for a big push.
He began working as a henchman for Shane McMahon in his feud with Roman Reigns, but the two men lost at Extreme Rules to Reigns and The Undertaker.
To round off the year, McIntyre competed with Team Flair at Crown Jewel but lost the match, and as a member of Team RAW at Survivor Series.
While fans have been desperate to watch him rise to the top and hold a Championship, the Superstar went the entire year without even getting any top Championship matches.