The Fiend may Benefit most if he is kept out of the World Title Picture
The main event picture on Raw was dwindled for about two months – it seemed as though Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton were the only viable main eventers for a while. Fortunately, business has picked up significantly in the past couple weeks since Hell In A Cell. Drew McIntyre has emerged as a top contender for the WWE Championship. Originally the situation looked as though The Fiend would emerge as the top contender to Randy Orton, but The Fiend has a supernatural presence and he may be better served to engage in non-title feuds, because he has enough of an aura about him – somewhat similar to The Undertaker (their encounter at WrestleMania 31 immediately comes to mind) – to the point where the WWE universe will care about him and his rivalry whether there is a title involved or not.
The Fiend also has the tendency to damage his own credibility as well as the credibility of his opponent when he engages in a title feud (Seth Rollins is a prime example of this; essentially the only time The Fiend benefited himself and his opponent during a title rivalry was when he and Daniel Bryan wrapped up their story in January 2020).
Drew McIntyre was trusted recently with the WWE Championship and did an excellent job, so there is no reason he could not be trusted again for a Second Run
Drew McIntyre might be a better candidate to become Randy Orton’s first challenger for the WWE Championship; it would benefit McIntyre to a greater degree in both the short-term and long-term future. McIntyre might even challenge Orton for the title before Survivor Series, win the WWE Championship and go on to face Roman Reigns in a champion versus champion clash at the Pay-Per-View.
Roman has more recent history with McIntyre than Randy as Drew faced The Big Dog at Mania 35, while it has been over six years since Reigns last stepped in the ring with The Viper in a singles match. This could be WWE’s way of building a long-term story between Roman Reigns and Randy Orton and giving each of their characters a sufficient amount of time to breathe (as well as the collective mind of the WWE universe) so that when they do ultimately meet, the impact of the story will be that much greater.
After Survivor Series WWE might go into a program with McIntyre and Sheamus which will wrap up before Royal Rumble at the end of January 2021. Sheamus is an extremely hard-hitting superstar with a resume plenty big enough to warrant a WWE Title match – when a superstar has a match with Sheamus, he knows he was in a match with Sheamus – a testament to how hard this man works and how seriously he takes his matches.
Orton could win World Championship Number 15 and Hold it through Mania
After finishing the rivalry with Sheamus, The Scottish Psychopath will be able to turn his attention to perhaps Randy Orton, who may challenge for the WWE championship once again come Royal Rumble. Orton could win the WWE title in January (giving him world title number 15 in his career, keeping Randy on pace to break Ric Flair’s record of 17 world titles) and hold it until WrestleMania 37 for the big payoff match with Edge. WWE typically likes to cap off these high-profile feuds by involving a title, and this WWE championship match will also likely have a stipulation (right now the company is choosing an I Quit match).
The Viper and The Rated-R Superstar met the previous two times in their current rivalry at WrestleMania 36 in a Last-Man-Standing match, and again in June 2020 at Backlash in The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. The reason the conclusion of this rivalry was delayed is because of Edge for his triceps in June – otherwise this rivalry probably would have concluded at SummerSlam. Everything happens for a reason. We may not always understand it, but I believe there is a divine presence always looking out for us – you can call it God or whatever you want – but I believe this is what happened with Randy Orton and Edge.
Going back to Drew McIntyre’s match from this week’s edition of RAW, The Scottish Psychopath delivered his most versatile performance ever. He has always had flat out ridiculous strength and a decent amount of athleticism, but this week he was flying around the ring and over the top rope like a cruiserweight. John Morrison also took a German suplex off the top rope and completely flipped (exactly like Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 19 (Brock Lesnar almost broke his neck in their WWE title match trying to execute a shooting star press, which was an unnecessary risk).
Miz cashing-in on The Viper, and he could assert that he is now The Ultimate Opportunist (Edge’s gimmick).
This could then lead to a WWE championship match where Edge becomes WWE champion again.
Randy Orton could retain the WWE championship at WrestleMania and The Miz could cash-in the Money in the Bank contract a few weeks later on Orton (it would provide continuity that it just so happens Miz last won the WWE championship from Randy Orton also. Miz won the Money in the Bank contract from Otis at Hell In A Cell about two weeks ago. This well marked the second time someone who did not win the MITB ladder match will cash-in (the last being Edge in 2007 – also a former winner).
Mr. Kennedy won the ladder match in 2007, but unfortunately the situation with WWE did not work out for him. Vince McMahon was not crazy about him and neither was John Cena. There aren’t great odds someone will succeed in a company if the boss and the face of the company don’t necessarily gel with that person. However, the situation is quite the opposite for Otis, as Mr. McMahon is very much a supporter of the big man who is also a great comedic character for right now.
Different plans are possible for Drew McIntyre, but he will become champion again (almost a guarantee).
When you combine his rugged look and gracious demeanor, along with his physical ability, the potential for many world titles is right there. It has taken longer than expected to come to fruition, but McIntyre has learned an awful lot on this journey and evolved significantly as a human being.
Of course, this option could be totally scrapped. In that case, another option would be to make Drew McIntyre WWE champion for the second time at the first WWE live event in front of the WWE universe again after the current pandemic (who knows when that will be – let’s hope it comes in time for WrestleMania 37). McIntyre has been trusted to carry the company through this tough time, and veterans of this business say all the time that the true measure of a top draw is whether or not the company trusts you to carry the business through difficult times.
A perfect example of this phenomenon occurred in 2002 when WWE was transitioning from The Attitude Era and being so edgy/heavily reliant on the Stone Cold Steve Austin-type attitude, and toward a larger and more global audience comprised of all demographics rather than primarily the 18-49 demographic (The Demo-God Chris Jericho). Just look at who carried the major titles in WWE during that time – The Undertaker and Triple H – two of the most respected men in the wrestling business. Mr. McMahon trusts them more than anyone and they are basically family members.
McIntyre has passed this test with flying colors and has proven to be a marketable babyface. There is a strong possibility that he could finally receive a proper coronation as the face of WWE (other than of course Roman Reigns). Through making McIntyre champion immediately once fans are allowed to attend WWE live events again, Mr. McMahon would be giving himself the opportunity to find out immediately if McIntyre can consistently draw attention to the WWE product as a whole and put backsides in seats.