WWE Superstar Study: Analyzing the State of Drew McIntyre's Character

Drew McIntyre was once labeled “The Chosen One” by Vince McMahon, who handpicked McIntyre to be a breakout superstar and future World champion. 

Or so we thought. 

Although McIntyre received a sizable push on SmackDown in 2009, his career hasn’t exactly panned out like many thought it would, and he’s no better off now than he was three years ago. 

After his early struggles, is McIntyre a lost cause? And where is he headed? Well, let’s take a look in this week’s Superstar Study. 

Where He’s Been 

At the beginning of 2011, McIntyre found himself in a storyline on SmackDown where he, the heel, was chasing after Kelly Kelly, the baby face. As with most love-interest storylines, however, it led essentially nowhere. 

Around that same time, McIntyre actually competed in SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber match in February, but that would be the last time he made any sort of impact on the blue brand.

In late April, McIntyre was drafted to Monday Night Raw during the supplemental draft. Up until December of that year, he found himself competing almost exclusively on the non-televised Superstars, if he even wrestled at all. 

McIntyre had essentially vanished from WWE TV until Dec. 30, when, out of the blue, he started showing back up on the SmackDown brand and renewed his feud with long-time rival Teddy Long. But McIntyre’s losing streak from 2011 would extend into 2012.

With each loss, Long began telling McIntyre that he was getting closer and closer to being fired. 

Eventually, McIntyre lost too many consecutive matches and was indeed fired by Long, but McIntyre’s unemployment didn’t last long (pun intended). Interim Raw GM John Laurinaitis rehired McIntyre on the March 9th SmackDown, and McIntyre won his “return” match by defeating Hornswoggle. 

After more than a year of being completely lost in the shuffle, McIntyre finally seemed to have earned himself a firm spot on TV. 

Where He Is Now

Given all of the history between Long and McIntyre, I thought it was a near certainty that McIntyre would either turn face and join Team Teddy at WrestleMania or somehow wind up on Team Johnny. 

Up until this Monday, McIntyre had not been named to either squad, but that changed when Christian was attacked on Raw and Team Johnny needed a replacement.

Christian’s replacement, of course, turned out to be McIntyre. 

While this made sense storyline-wise, it was surprising to see McIntyre have to wait so long to get involved in this match. Perhaps more so than just about any other superstar in the bout, McIntyre had a reason to really want to be on Team Johnny. 

Yet, the creative team left McIntyre out of the equation until the last minute, and it’s pretty clear that he is a fill-in for Christian and nothing more. 

Aside from his beef with Long, McIntyre hasn’t had a legitimate, extended feud in God-knows-how-long and—although it didn’t have to be that way—he seems to be yet another superstar who was just thrown into Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny. 

Where I Think He’s Headed 

Given that McIntyre was only a last-minute addition to Team Johnny, I don’t think his prospects for the immediate future are all that great. 

If he was meant to be a big part of the battle of the GMs and of SmackDown going forward, then he should have been at the center of this feud. But the bottom line is that he wasn’t, and that doesn’t bode too well for him. 

McIntyre will be competing at WrestleMania 28, but with 11 other guys in the match, I don’t see him really standing out all that much. Dolph Ziggler and The Miz will probably shine for the heel side, leaving little to no room for McIntyre to do much of note in a six-on-six match that isn’t an elimination-style bout.

Post-WrestleMania, McIntyre, in all likelihood, is going to stay on the SmackDown brand, considering that he just moved there a few months back. 

His future depends largely upon how the draft shakes out, but honestly, I don’t see much changing for him. While he probably won’t go on another lengthy losing streak, his peak in 2012 will likely be the Intercontinental or United States Championship scene. 

That’s not a bad place for McIntyre to be, but that’s also probably a best-case scenario, especially given how up and down his career has been thus far. 

Where I Think He SHOULD Be Headed 

Christian’s injury could wind up being a huge blessing in disguise and an opportunity to catapult McIntyre to the next level. 

If I’m booking WrestleMania 28, I have McIntyre win the match for Team Teddy after hitting Santino Marella with the Future Shock DDT, which would ultimately lead to a huge post-Mania push for the man formerly known as “The Chosen One.” 

Since Laurinaitis will then be in control of both Raw and SmackDown, he can reward McIntyre for his victory by making him his pet project on SmackDown, similar to what he’s done for Otunga on Raw. Laurinaitis can accompany McIntyre to the ring, book him in favorable matches, give him title opportunities and so on and so forth. 

To be honest, it wouldn’t really be a far cry from McIntyre’s “Chosen One” character. The only major difference would be that Laurinaitis is the one who views McIntyre as someone he can build SmackDown around, rather than Vince McMahon. 

It would do wonders for McIntyre’s character for him to be associated with a mega-heat-generating heel in Laurinaitis, who could help McIntyre get more over as a heel and thus, give him more opportunities to work his way up the card. 

Final Thoughts 

McIntyre has a boatload of talent, a great look and is still only 26 years old (hard to believe, I know), so it would be idiotic of the WWE to give up him on already. 

They signed him because they saw something in him, and they pushed him because they saw something in him. Whatever is they saw in him, they seem to have lost. 

But all it takes is one great storyline to find it again.

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.