Drew McIntyre Beats Sami Zayn to Retain WWE Title at Royal Rumble After Wild Win vs. Cody Rhodes

Drew McIntyre defeated Sami Zayn at the Royal Rumble on Saturday to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship, and he was quick to tout his record against Zayn in a post on X following the match:

The Scot hit Zayn with two straight Claymores for the pin.

Zayn fought through adversity since the early stages of the match, when he hurt his lower back while going airborne to attack McIntyre with a flip over the ropes.

That lower-back injury clearly hindered Zayn, and it took more punishment during the match via White Noise off the top rope and a powerbomb through an announcers' table.

Zayn fought hard and had his moments, but he didn't have enough in the tank to stop the brutality of the champion.

The Rumble marked McIntyre's first title defense since shockingly beating Cody Rhodes for the championship in a Three Stages of Hell match on the Jan. 9 episode of SmackDown.

That bout came down to a steel cage match, and it saw Jacob Fatu make his return after months on the shelf. Fatu initially stopped McIntyre from exiting the cage, but when Rhodes stepped in, he turned his attention to The American Nightmare.

The Scottish Warrior managed to escape the cage amid the commotion, and he became a three-time WWE champion in the process.

McIntyre didn't have long to celebrate his victory, as SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis set plans in motion to determine the No. 1 contender and Drew's opponent for Royal Rumble.

A series of singles matches were held on SmackDown with the winners advancing to a No. 1 contender's Fatal 4-Way match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

In the qualifying bouts, Randy Orton beat The Miz, Trick Williams defeated Matt Cardona, Damian Priest took down Solo Sikoa and Zayn got the better of Ilja Dragunov.

Then, at Saturday Night's Main Event in his hometown of Montreal, Zayn outlasted three of the top Superstars SmackDown has to offer to earn a WWE title opportunity at Royal Rumble.

Zayn entered the Rumble having never won a world title on the WWE main roster, but he was determined to finally reach the top of the mountain at McIntyre's expense.

Despite that, the Scot managed to retain his title at Royal Rumble, and he is now in line to potentially enter WrestleMania 42 as the undisputed WWE champion.