5 Reasons why Drew McIntyre should turn heel soon

Drew McIntyre is all set to face Big E for the WWE Championship in 10 days at the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. Post-that, he will move to SmackDown after getting drafted to the Blue brand.

McIntyre is in a tricky position on WWE TV right now. While he largely spent 2020 carrying the company on his back during the pandemic era, he hasn't enjoyed the same success since the crowds returned in July 2021.

Some have suggested that he should turn heel, and here are a few reasons making a case for that:

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#5. Drew McIntyre is in a bad position where he won't be World Champion anytime soon

The problem Drew McIntyre faces now is that the chances of him becoming the WWE or Universal Champion seem slim to none. While he has already been drafted to SmackDown, this means two things - Big E will remain the face of RAW and is likely to retain the WWE title at Crown Jewel, and McIntyre may not be the man to dethrone Roman Reigns.

Even though Reigns is set to face Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that the company is planning to extend the feud beyond the upcoming pay-per-view:

"Right now the plan is to get a lot more time out of Lesnar vs. Reigns than just the Saudi Arabia show, and from the rosters, they need to do that. McIntyre is there, but they also have to elevate other people,'' stated Meltzer.

Meltzer further reported on WON that Drew McIntyre is set to be positioned as The Tribal Chief's next opponent after Lesnar. Since Survivor Series is happening in November, December might be when the two have their feud:

"[Drew] McIntyre was moved over since Roman Reigns desperately needs a new opponent, and on paper right now there is essentially nobody else for him. Plus, McIntyre goes over with multiple losses at the end of his Raw run and presumably another to Big E, and then will become Reigns’ big contender probably around December,'' said Meltzer.

McIntyre facing Reigns for the Universal title in December virtually guarantees that he has no chance of dethroning The Tribal Chief. Usually, December feuds are extended until January, which also means that Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre could be the Universal title match at the 2022 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Given that McIntyre has little to no chance of becoming a three-time World champion anytime soon, a heel turn could be the best move to make.

#4. It would do justice to Drew McIntyre to turn him heel beforehand

Drew McIntyre has faced a similar problem a few times this year since the crowds have returned - they haven't been too receptive to him. Around 90% of the time, he seems to get great reactions, but the remaining 10% tells a different story.

Let's take the case of Money in the Bank 2021. McIntyre was coming off a loss to Bobby Lashley at Hell in a Cell. The match stipulated that if the former lost the match, he wouldn't be able to challenge for the WWE Championship as long as Lashley held the title.

At this point, many fans felt that Drew McIntyre had overstayed his welcome in the world title picture. He first lost to Riddle in an MITB qualifying match. That's why when McIntyre qualified for the MITB ladder match following his "Last Chance" victory against The Original Bro and AJ Styles, there was a collective groan from fans.

When he cut a promo about winning the briefcase, the crowd booed him. It's a shame because he deserves all the credit in the world for his work in 2020 alone. Despite not having crowds present for both his WWE title reigns, there weren't many world champions in the past decade who consistently delivered excellent pay-per-view matches the way he did.

Turning him heel would essentially be WWE making the move before fans have a chance to fully boo him. If he keeps sticking around the world title picture (on RAW and SmackDown), fans will inevitably turn on him, so it's better to get a headstart.

#3. Drew McIntyre can be the catalyst of Roman Reigns' eventual face turn

Drew McIntyre being one of Roman Reigns' "main" opponents for a pay-per-view like WrestleMania seems unlikely, especially since WWE normally reserves the biggest matches for The Tribal Chief.

McIntyre has faced Reigns at The Show of Shows before, but even then, it seemed clear that he was just the latter's "welcome back" opponent to singles competition following his remission and return to the ring.

Their match at Survivor Series proved that timing is everything, as they had an instant classic with each other. However, with rumors of plans for Roman Reigns to eventually square off against The Rock, Drew McIntyre will be low down as a backup plan for the reigning Universal Champion at WrestleMania.

However, if McIntyre turned heel during his run on SmackDown, it could be the catalyst for Reigns' eventual face turn. It's no secret that WWE wants him to be the modern face of the company, and his current run as a heel has been the best of his career by far.

Drew McIntyre's heel turn wouldn't coincide with Roman Reigns' face turn. If anything, it would mean that the company has to keep them apart for a while, especially if the plan is for Reigns to continue as a top heel for more than a year.

And in all honesty, The Tribal Chief doesn't look like he's in a good position to turn face right away. He will inevitably be when the time is right.

#2. Drew McIntyre can emerge as a bigger babyface than before

Drew McIntyre is already a big babyface, but there are small cracks when it comes to his consistent fan reactions, and that's primarily due to WWE's handling of him post-WrestleMania 37.

It hasn't been bad in the last few months, particularly when McIntyre was out of the WWE title picture and facing the likes of Jinder Mahal. The company did a great job building him as a top babyface leading up to 2020. Leading up to that run, he was rarely ever pinned or submitted, and he was quietly pushed and protected ahead of his epic Royal Rumble win in 2021.

The only thing that went wrong at that time for Drew McIntyre was the COVID-19 pandemic. His match with Brock Lesnar would have likely lasted well over five minutes, but a lot of things changed.

For WWE, it's time to step back and rethink how they can present McIntyre going forward. Perhaps a heel turn is necessary for him to emerge as a bigger and more popular babyface in the long run, rather than looking at his short-term future.

#1. Drew McIntyre can have a dominant championship run like Roman Reigns

This would require a bit of smart booking, but Drew McIntyre could have a dominant heel championship run. His two WWE Championship runs in 2020-2021 were among the best in the past decade.

He had a good and dominant run as a babyface champion, and it could be time for the company to flip the switch. Roman Reigns, for example, had three WWE Championship runs and one Universal title run as a babyface.

None of them delivered, although the third and fourth world title reigns were cut short due to differing circumstances - one a mistake, and the other due to a life-threatening health issue.

Reigns' current run as the Universal Champion isn't just longer than all his previous ones combined - it's over double the length in tenure. While it's hard to see Drew McIntyre having a 400+ day reign as a dominant heel champion, he could dominate WWE for over half a year atleast.

It would be similar to Roman Reigns' current run, but with a different top heel and shorter in length.