WWE Hot Take: MIA Star Is the Man to Snatch Seth Rollins' Heavyweight Championship

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship run for Seth Rollins could be used as a vehicle for many amazing things over the long-term.

Besides giving Rollins his much-deserved due as the likely best pro wrestler on the planet for more than a year running, it can elevate NXT stars and rejuvenate a lacking main-event scene. In time, maybe it could even move Rollins toward a feud with Roman Reigns in some fashion.

Or...it could help give Drew McIntyre what he deserves.

Fans haven't seen McIntyre since WrestleMania, where he was involved in a triple-threat for Gunther's intercontinental title in a match that nearly stole the show. Popular speculation suggested he's been gone since while rehabbing injuries after finally getting a break, which made sense.

But contract speculation and creative usage made sense too and that's an angle that hasn't faded. According to PW Insider Elite (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), there's a thought that McIntyre won't actually return until he and WWE agree on his usage.

Why would he? Contract speculation aside (and we can say he should be one of the highest-paid, for whatever it's worth), there's zero reason for McIntyre to come back and just bounce around the mid-card or even get stuck in tag-team purgatory.

After all, McIntyre has been one of the bigger victims of Reigns' current run with both men's top titles. The new one rightfully went to Rollins, but he wasn't far behind in being deserving. He's also the guy who, best as outsiders can tell, had a huge work-rate despite working through injuries. He also happens to be the guy who put WWE on his back during the so-called "Pandemic era," making audience-less crowds worth watching and never getting a deserved moment in front of a live crowd.

That line of thinking culminated in Clash at the Castle in the U.K. back in September, where McIntyre was a huge hometown-ish crowd favorite against Reigns and lost, with WWE missing on a once-in-a-generaiton pop and moment (never mind McIntyre's super-strange celebratory singing after the loss, a fun moment for the crowd that should have never been broadcast).

So yes, McIntyre should hold himself back and is worthy of challenging and even taking down Rollins. WWE can't do the sets a bad precedent line of thinking to hold him back or not give him what he wants, either. He has arguably the most unique leverage of anyone in pro wrestling right now—he had already remade himself outside of WWE, was at the very top of that promotion too and would be one of the hottest free-agent commodities ever if he chose to hit the open market.

So what booking would make sense for McIntyre if he's going after Rollins' title?

Perhaps the most obvious answer is having Rollins stage more open challenges for his title and that being a way to help McIntyre achieve a stunning return. He doesn't have to necessarily win in that scenario, but it would achieve quite the moment and feud in one swoop.

A prolonged feud wouldn't hurt either, provided it culminates at a massive event like SummerSlam or even a planned international spot that will give him a similar reception to that one from the U.K. last year.

One worthwhile argument against McIntyre eventually beating Rollins is the damage it could do to the current champion, or how it would spoil his much-desired run at the top.

But the overarching problem with that line of thinking somehow loops back to Reigns. After making a new belt (or bringing one back, technically) because there was nothing for other main-eventers to do, is the answer really to have Rollins go on a massively long run as champion at the same time, too?

Probably not, so the easy answer for WWE is McIntyre. Keep one of their top guys happy, keep the main-event scene fresh, dole out special moments and reward a guy who carried the entire company during one of the most unique, taxing times in pro wrestling.

The first one to beat Rollins should be McIntyre on sheer credibility alone, never mind all of the other benefits for WWE within the bigger pro wrestling landscape.