Drew McIntyre has put the WWE Universe on notice, since returning to the company just under 2 months ago. Assigned to the NXT brand, McIntyre has gone on to reinforce the widely held opinion that he has always had the talent to become a huge star, but was simply never given the right opportunities to prove his worth.
Currently working towards receiving an opportunity against Bobby Roode, the NXT Champion, McIntyre has plainly improved immeasurably since his last WWE run which he ended in miserable fashion as a member of 3MB, an ill-remembered lower card act at best.
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Upon leaving the WWE and going on to test himself around the world in promotions such as TNA, Evolve and ICW, McIntyre has established himself as one of the industry's biggest all-around talents. Armed with solid mic skills, a great look and now one of the best entrance themes in the entire business (seriously, check it out if you haven’t heard it), McIntyre seems primed to make a huge impact on WWE, once he arrives on the main roster.
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There's no doubting that there's a lot of unfinished business left in NXT for McIntyre to attend to, but once his time in developmental is done, where should he go from there? There is an abundance of WWE superstars would now love to get their hands on Drew McIntyre, and vice versa. With no further ado, we present 8 exciting possibilities for future feuds.
#8 Sheamus
On paper, Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre doesn't sound particularly appealing, but it is highly likely that this pair could surprise everybody. Whether anybody wants to admit it or not, Sheamus has made it a habit of dragging entertaining matches from the most unlikely sources.
He's had enthralling collisions with everybody from Roman Reigns to Big Show, and his brawling, hard-hitting style would complement McIntyre's style very nicely. Both men are large, bruising athletes who prioritise beating somebody up over the aesthetics on display while doing so, and this will make their match something of a rarity in modern-day WWE. Sheamus and McIntyre are extremely similar, even down to the fact that they both use a high-impact kick as a finisher.
Sometimes, a match between two superstars of the same in-ring style fails to deliver for a multitude of reasons, but McIntyre and Sheamus both have the talent and the hunger to make sure that doesn't happen. Give them a good story to work with, or even throw the UK Championship onto McIntyre and let Sheamus try to claim it for the Irish, and there will be guaranteed fireworks.
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#7 Baron Corbin
Another big guy and one that is even more similar to Drew McIntyre than Sheamus is Baron Corbin. The Lone Wolf's stock has steadily been on the rise ever since his debut victory in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal last year, and he's now considered to be a rather big deal on SmackDown Live.
He's improved immensely all-around in the time since then and would shine against a rounded performer such as McIntyre. Drew has had a great deal of success on the indies playing the physically imposing, fiery babyface, meaning he is perfectly prepared to face a guy like Corbin, who is arguably the purest heel on SmackDown.
A possible victory over a name like Baron Corbin would do wonders for this new phase of Drew McIntyre's WWE career, and may even set him in motion towards a potential WWE Title match, at some point down the line. If nothing else, it will be highly intriguing to see Corbin attempt to hit The End Of Days on the 6'4, 255 pounder.
#6 Chris Jericho
Okay, so this is one for a little further down the line. Jericho is currently out of WWE, and nobody really knows when he’s coming back. All we know is, he certainly will be back at some stage. This is good news for a variety of reasons, one of which being that it would give Drew McIntyre an opportunity to prove himself against the self-proclaimed “G.O.A.T".
Y2J has been in programmes with everybody from The Rock to Fandango and knows what it takes to get the best out of the performer he’s working opposite. A fiery, babyface version of McIntyre smacking the lips from the face of an obnoxious heel Jericho is not something that we should be denied the chance to see, and this writer genuinely believes that feuding with Jericho could be the catalyst that pushes McIntyre from being someone with the potential to wrestle in main events, to being one of the top stars of the company.
He really could be that good; he just needs the correct opponent and the right environment, which was proven in the way he so sharply improved in all areas when he left WWE initially and challenged himself against the very best in the independent scene. Even leaving aside the storyline for a moment, both Jericho and McIntyre are incredibly talented in the ring and would deliver a great match, no questions asked. Let’s see it, WWE.
#5 Finn Balor
Finn Balor vs. anybody would be entertaining, right? Well, as shown when he faced Jinder Mahal on RAW recently, the answer is no. But McIntyre vs. Balor undoubtedly would be a fantastic match-up. Facing off against a smaller guy like Balor would allow McIntyre to showcase more of his brutal, physically dominating style than he'd be able to against somebody of a similar size to himself.
Even just facing Balor at all would instantly raise McIntyre's stock in the eyes of the casual viewer, as Finn is very much a main event name these days. This can only be a good thing as elevating McIntyre up to a world title picture simply has to be the overall aim.
He doesn't even need to defeat Balor, but simply look competitive, put on a great match and show everybody, fans and Vince McMahon alike, that he's finally ready for another opportunity to get to the top of WWE.
With the aforementioned size difference between the two, we can assume that a great match is practically a given, as the athletic big man vs. athletic small man battle is a template which lends itself to high-impact, high-speed and high-drama wrestling matches. Balor vs. McIntyre has the potential to be the match of the night, on any given night.
#4 Jinder Mahal
A match between the former 3MB stablemates would not have seemed particularly appealing to anybody until a couple of months ago. This is around the time that Jinder Mahal received a sudden push out of nowhere to elevate him to his current status of WWE Champion, and McIntyre returned to the company after a 3-year absence.
McIntyre's exploits on his travels around the independent scene have ensured that he returned to WWE with a seriously improved reputation, and would allow him to be a more than capable challenger to somebody of Mahal's standing.
The chances are, Jinder won't be holding the WWE Title by the time a possible eventual feud with McIntyre comes into play, but this doesn't mean it would not still be an interesting prospect. Both men have worked seriously hard to improve themselves over the past few years, and the results have shown in their overall ability. Two hard hitting, powerful, strong personalities facing off sounds like a fascinating prospect on its own, without even taking into account their previous history together with 3MB.
#3 Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler, otherwise known as "the human selling machine", would be a perfect opponent for McIntyre on so many levels. Leaving aside his incredible selling for a moment, Ziggler seems to be the go-to guy, in terms of initial feuds for NXT graduates. When Tyler Breeze came up, what happened? He got stuck straight into a feud with Ziggler.
Baron Corbin emerged from NXT, and instantly began battling Dolph in what seemed like a never-ending series. Shinsuke Nakamura? Debuted against Ziggler at Backlash. So a precedent is there, WWE clearly feels that Ziggler can be trusted in the ring against a new face that needs to make an impact. McIntyre certainly falls under that category and has the strength and power within his arsenal to be able to do some serious damage to Ziggler. Which, of course, would be sold as though Ziggler had been hit by a train.
In terms of getting Drew over as an unstoppable big man, Ziggler is probably his perfect opponent. McIntyre and Ziggler are two fantastically talented in-ring performers and would have no problems in delivering a match that the WWE Universe will absolutely love.
A programme that spans 2 or 3 PPV’s would be perfect, with McIntyre eventually going over in totally dominant fashion.A win over Ziggler means less now than it did 5 years ago, but it would still go a long way towards pushing Drew to the position he deserves to be in.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura has been on fire since his signing by WWE last year, and while his ascension to the main roster hasn’t quite kicked off in the emphatic fashion that many would have hoped for, he’s still managed to become a major star on SmackDown Live very quickly. A potential match against Drew McIntyre would do wonders for both men, particularly McIntyre, who would be afforded the opportunity to fight against one of the very best in the world.
Fans are automatically drawn to anything Nakamura is involved in, which naturally would also benefit Drew. Nakamura is a guy who, as a result of spending the vast majority of his career in NJPW, wrestles a vastly different style to anybody else in the company. Fortunately, as already mentioned, McIntyre has a wealth of experience competing against stars from all over the world.
This is also true of Nakamura, meaning that it’s likely that the pair will not take long to figure out how to put on an enthralling match together. McIntyre is the larger of the two, which would still allow him to display his usual power advantage that he enjoys over his opponents. However, the fact that he’d be throwing a star of Nakamura’s calibre all over the ring would sell him to the WWE Universe as a genuine threat to pretty much anybody in the company.
The only slight downside, with Nakamura’s minimal grasp of English and McIntyre’s strong Scottish accent, may be that the promo work between them may not be of the highest standard. Regardless, these are two competitors with the ability to overcome that barrier, to tell the story in the ring rather than on the microphone. If they were ever to collide, it would be a must-see battle.
#1 AJ Styles
If there’s one man in the whole of WWE, who could work with any other superstar and still manage to produce an exciting match, it is AJ Styles. The former WWE Champion has raised the bar, in terms of in-ring excellence, and this seems to have had a positive effect on everybody he’s faced as yet. Whether it’s John Cena, Luke Harper, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler or almost anybody else on SmackDown Live, Styles has had a great match with them all.
When looking at who Drew McIntyre should face when he finally leaves NXT, WWE should make sure that they place AJ Styles very close to the top of that list. McIntyre has a very notable size advantage over Styles, which would help the crowd to buy into the fact that he could beat AJ.
Their styles seem to match very nicely, as Styles could play the athletic, bump taking smaller guy, to McIntyre’s imposing, battle-hardened warrior. No matter what story was told, Styles vs. McIntyre would be sure to deliver some fantastic matches. The two have never really crossed paths before, making it a fresh match-up and guaranteeing fans the chance of seeing something they’ve never witnessed before.
Just for one second, imagine that McIntyre pins AJ Styles, clean in the middle of the ring after a fantastic match. Instantly, he’d be one of SmackDown’s top stars, if not the star. The opportunity to create a new star, just like that, is not something that should be passed over. If we were to see Styles vs. McIntyre, it would be to the benefit of the performers, the company and most importantly, the WWE Universe. Come on, Vince, make it happen
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