Drew McIntyre Emerging as the Most Worthy WWE Star to Dethrone Brock Lesnar

WWE has a chance to bring "The Chosen One" storyline full circle. 

Drew McIntyre had a bumpy ride in WWE his first time out, tumbling rungs down the ladder at a time right into 3MB purgatory before a release. 

Now he's back and looking like a legitimate threat to Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship. 

McIntyre might be the jolt WWE needs to shake up the main event scene. Unlike his baby-faced (literally, in the worst way possible) first run, the Scot returns as a championed NXT star, markedly improved in the ring, superb on the mic and with a grizzly-esque appearance that has him looking as big as, if not bigger than, the company's biggest stars. 

But it almost feels like McIntyre is already spinning his wheels with the pairing next to Dolph Ziggler.

The Showoff's own career-long spinning of his own wheels doesn't help, but we already know where this is going—one will turn on the other, and McIntyre will emerge the winner, benefiting from Ziggler always making his opponent look good. 

Maybe now is the time WWE could surprise fans and skip the predictable—Lesnar awaits. 

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WWE doesn't have much else for Lesnar at this point. The supposedly hyped return of Bobby Lashley was a dud. Granted, he had some superb matches with Roman Reigns, but having him win and then lose so The Big Dog goes on to fight The Beast Incarnate anyway didn't do the newcomer any favors. 

Part of a certain segment of fans' beef with Reigns is it feels like he has been shoved down their throats. It feels like WWE missed the proper big payoff moment as well, keeping the strap on Lesnar too long. A Reigns Universal Championship triumph now is going to be a dud regardless. 

McIntyre being the one to do it? Not so much. 

After all, he is everything WWE wants, right on down to the attitude. Here's what he told WWE.com about how he reacted to being cut: 

"That's exactly what I wanted. A lot of guys, when they leave the company, they fall under the radar and are happy just to keep plugging along, hoping one day that they will get picked up again. That's not me. I'm not that kind of guy. I never go for second best. I want to show everybody that if you do your best job, if you believe in yourself and work your a-- off, you can do anything."

All McIntyre did after eight long years with WWE and no payoff was reinvent himself in every possible way, winning championships with other promotions and becoming a must-have commodity for WWE again before crowning him NXT champion and eventually promoting him to the red brand. 

Like McIntyre himself said in a recent promo standoff against Seth Rollins: "It doesn't matter where I've been. It matters where I'm going." 

It's partially true, at least. Granted, Rollins responded with a quip about McIntyre jumping when Ziggler says jump, but again—we know where that's going. 

We also know there could be so much more. McIntyre picked up a win over Rollins: 

McIntrye has looked right at the same level as Reigns when they have clashed. He's looked good fighting someone with a unique style like the one trotted out by Finn Balor. Heck, in the past we've seen him do front flips over the top rope to the outside, so he's not exactly limited just because he's big.

He also might be the only guy on the main roster who looks the same physical size as Braun Strowman when they stand eye-to-eye, not to mention looking like a viable physical threat to The Monster Among Men. 

Besides appearing to be a viable threat to Lesnar, a big benefit of McIntyre being the one to dethrone him isn't as obvious—little falls out of place if it happens.  

McIntyre doesn't need to change his character one bit if he wins it all. If anything, it proves his point and finalizes "The Chosen One" arc started almost 10 years ago. He not only keeps doing what he's doing, he serves as the final boss for all the faces on the roster, allowing them to keep doing what they're doing, all while getting the Universal Championship back on normal WWE programming. 

This isn't saying McIntyre is the only viable way to go. But Rollins is doing wonders with the Intercontinental title. Reigns is tired. Lashley is in limbo. Balor, despite us always being reminded he was the first Universal Champion, doesn't seem interested in the title. Strowman is a fun sideshow and fan favorite who doesn't need it. 

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McIntyre has a story worth being told. This isn't some Big Cass "get him in the main event because he's...big" thing. He was anointed upon arrival by Vince McMahon himself and failed in stupendous fashion. He worked other promotions, changed his approach and is now applying it to the WWE's biggest heights to see how far it takes him.

The end game could be Lesnar. It doesn't need some massive explanation. There's a confrontation between two of the biggest and baddest WWE has to offer, just like when The Beast collided with Samoa Joe or Strowman. The presence of both and the crowd reaction will tell the story in tandem with their respective backstories. 

Maybe WWE goes back to the well with Reigns and implements something with Strowman's briefcase soon. But we've seen what can happen when the brass get behind a fan darling like AJ Styles. McIntyre is the same age as The Big Dog, has a similar, if not better, look and ability on the mic and in the ring, and he doesn't carry any of the baggage weighing him down. 

In fact, McIntyre has turned his baggage into a positive in a way Reigns perhaps never can. Ten or so years in the making, WWE has the chance to pen one of its better modern story arcs by weaving it all together into one narrative with a payoff fans won't necessarily expect but would enjoy regardless. 

No matter what happens, the crown awaits and the new McIntyre isn't showing any signs of slowing.