Opinion

Drew McIntyre and the Rush to Main Event Glory in WWE

Published

5 years ago

July 6, 2018

Drew McIntyre is believed to be the next big thing in WWE. The man formerly known as The Chosen One is in top form, he’s on his game and he’s truly a star. As the rise of Roman Reigns seems to have somewhat stalled, many fans are looking to the next man up and they feel McIntyre is that man.

But of course Drew is currently busy as the muscle for Dolph Ziggler on Monday Night Raw. The pairing seems perfect, especially in light of Dolph’s obvious tribute to Shawn Michaels and the comparisons of McIntyre to Diesel. Drew and Dolph look great together and their partnership is working out just fine. At this point, there’s just no need to rush Drew McIntyre.

Drew’s return was welcomed by those that remember him from his first WWE run and by those that followed him outside of WWE. For the former, seeing Drew return means seeing a renewed opportunity at realizing his main event dreams.

For the latter, watching Drew’s growth in the business is the real story. McIntyre always had potential but it took a career away from WWE to fully realize that potential. Drew has truly learned his craft and matured beyond what anyone likely expected. Drew McIntyre indeed looks ready for the next step.

His spot with Ziggler is perfect for him, mainly because Drew has a prime opponent ready when the time comes to split up. McIntyre versus Ziggler should be a great feud, as both men are known for delivering top notch performances in the ring. They would certainly set out to give their best every time the bell rang.

Indeed the clock seems to be ticking for this team. While they’ve shown no signs of having drama on TV thus far, fans know that Drew and Dolph will eventually have a falling out. It seems inevitable. There’s just so much ego between them and that much ego can only be contained for so long. The day will likely come when it consumes them and then it will all be over. But how long before that happens?

The most important issue with dissolving this partnership is timing. The timing has to be right and both men have to be ready. Dolph Ziggler is the newly crowned Intercontinental champion and he is set to defend his title against Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules on July 15. Drew McIntyre only recently came face to face with Reigns on Raw for the first time. Both men are heading in different directions while still having each other’s back.

Drew has made no statements regarding an interest in Dolph’s championship and Ziggler has not really taken advantage of McIntyre’s help in any way. They have no heat between them but when the time is right, the heat can instantly boil over. All it takes is one sideways glance or one misspoken word in an awkward promo. When that moment comes, the feud will explode.

But if WWE were to pull the trigger too soon, it could all fall apart. It’s already as though McIntyre is back because the company wanted him back, not necessarily because he’s filling a hole. WWE was moving along just fine without him. However even though it seems like the company tends to book guys without any real plan, that simply shouldn’t be true of Drew McIntyre.

There’s just so much to work with when it comes to him. Drew has the back-story of The Chosen One at his disposal. He even has his past with the 3MB to play off of. His run outside of WWE can be openly talked about, as the company has shown no fear of mentioning other wrestling promotions on the air. McIntyre’s story is there and ready to be told.

There also must be a certain level of faith in Drew McIntyre when it comes to the main event scene. He proved his worth before and has earned the right to prove it again. WWE knows the kind of man Drew is. WWE also knows the kind of draw he can potentially be. What better man to challenge Roman Reigns’ position of power and perhaps even unseat him from that position?

But therein lays the problem. If WWE moves too quickly with Drew McIntyre, then it could backfire. Fans love Drew right now but how long before they turn on him because of a sudden elevation with no real reasoning behind it? The same thing happened to Roman. What makes Drew any different?

Then there’s the fact that while McIntyre has some great visibility thanks to his partner, Ziggler is also benefiting from the arrangement. Dolph doesn’t need to cut long promos anymore if there’s no need to. He doesn’t need to worry about defending his current spot in the company or constantly reminding everyone of just how good he is. Now he can get back to wrestling and prove it.

Dolph Ziggler is indeed one of the best in WWE. He’s arguably the best in WWE and he only seems to get better. He never takes a night off. He has great matches with a variety of different opponents and he always shows up ready to show off. In a different world, Dolph Ziggler is the man that WWE builds around instead of building on.

But why can’t that happen now? Who’s to say that this run with Drew McIntyre won’t lead to bigger and better things for Ziggler? Everyone knows that Drew will emerge as a main event threat. But how many know that Dolph will do the same? Is it possible that WWE can establish two guys with two footholds on weekly TV?

Why not use Dolph Ziggler versus Seth Rollins as the stepping stone to a future Universal Championship rivalry between the two? Fans would surely be accepting of that. What if McIntyre ended up with the Intercontinental tile and defended it in a high profile program against Roman Reigns? Why can’t any combination of the four succeed?

The truth is that WWE has options with Drew McIntyre. He’s only just beginning and he deserves the chance to construct his reputation in the company. It will all happen in time. McIntyre is a main event star and he will prove that once again. Fans know that. WWE surely knows it as well.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s Good, Bad, & Ugly: WWE Smackdown On FOX (November 3, 2023)

It’s the go-home show for WWE Crown Jewel, and Smackdown is in full force! As is Greg’s Good, Bad, & Ugly review!

Published

4 weeks ago

November 4, 2023

Greg DeMarco

It’s the go-home show for WWE Crown Jewel, and Smackdown is in full force! As is Greg’s Good, Bad, & Ugly review!

WWE Smackdown On FOX sends us home for the Crown Jewel premium live event, so it has to be strong. But is it? Maybe it’s Good. Possibly it’s Bad? I sure hope it isn’t Ugly.

Let’s find out!

If you haven’t checked out Mitchell’s Results & Review for this episode of Smackdown, go and check it out now!

Good

Roman Reigns & LA Knight In Ring Promo – Last week LA Knight got the better of Roman, so it made sense for Roman to get it all back this week. And he did just that. “Redneck Cosplay of my cousin” was a fantastic line from Roman Reigns, but “I ain’t here to finish something” from LA Knight got a bigger reaction from me. Roman calling himself the megastar was also a phenomenal line. Good stuff all around.
Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory – Kevin Patrick keeping “The 150 million hit man” schtick going for Austin Theory is so great. Milk that for all it’s worth! “What is your issue with Kevin Owens’ face?” “LOOK AT IT, MAN!” Absolutely brilliant shit. “How’s that feel, idiot?” Grayson Waller should be on commentary every week, for every match. And this match, by the way, was really good. Austin Theory has settled into his current role, showing he understands the WWE cycle. And Owens is Owens.
Backstage Series Of Events – We had the Bianca Belair interview where she was attacked by Damage Ctrl, followed by The Street Profits & Bobby Lashley running into Logan Paul and then B-Fab. Flowed well, no issues for me.
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Charlotte Flair – No surprise that Charlotte Flair was the partner, and no surprise that Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn made an appearance. This was a perfectly fine TV match–didn’t set the world on fire, but also wasn’t Bad or Ugly. This was a step in this story, and an effective one.
The Brawling Brutes vs. Pretty Deadly in a Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook! – Shout out to Sheamus, whose return I look forward to seeing. With Ridge really coming into his own, we’re to the point where all four of these guys range from good to great to fantastic on any given night. Putting Pretty Deadly into any “manly fight” is always guaranteed entertainment. Really, Pretty Deadly in anything is typically guaranteed entertainment. Pretty Deadly picking up the win was not a shock, although I’d have loved to see Butch and Ridge Holland pick up a win here. Given the rules (or lack thereof) of this match, Pretty Deadly basically won clean here.
Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul Crown Jewel Weigh-In – A very effective way to pretape something, which saves time as part of a double taping. It was essentially a go home promo, but done in a different way. I liked it. It also smoothly transitions into the rundown of the card by the commentary team, which I always appreciate.
Bianca Belair vs. Bayley – If you know me, you know that Bianca can be hit or miss for me. She can’t “work with anyone,” but she can definitely work with Bayley. Bayley, of course, is money with anything she does. Both women delivered a main event quality match, and no one should complain that Bianca Belair won. She’s challenging for the Women’s Championship in less than 24 canon hours, so she needs to win. Bayley is a made woman, losing here doesn’t hurt her one bit.
“Just Enough Nick” Nick Aldis Usage – Triple H has done an amazing job of establishing Nick Aldis. Three weeks in and he already “belongs.” Much of that is attributed to how Aldis carries himself. But they are also using him to the right degree. It’s not too much, but it’s also not too little. Adam Pearce could miss two weeks of Raw and when he shows back up, it all makes sense. For Aldis, he needs to be very present, but not overbearing or “shoved down our throats.” They have the right balance.

BAD

Solo Sikoa & John Cena In Ring Promo – John Cena, lost voice and all, completely buries Solo Sikoa. He “cooks” Solo, as promised. And, as Cena does, he makes Solo look like crap. Bargain Basement Tazz Rip Off? C’mon man, you’re better than that. But here’s the real problem: what happens if Solo loses? Cena made him look like a loser, and then proves that he is? Solo has to win this match. If he doesn’t, and Cena is gone, then Solo is left out in the cold. And you don’t want to do that to Solo Sikoa at this point of his career.

UGLY

Misstep for Theory – Referencing Halloween as if it hadn’t already happened. You can edit this episode–c’mon, man!
Kevin Owens’ Crotch Chop – C’mon, man! We’re better than crotch chops in 2023.

The Verdict

Good – 8
Bad – 1
Ugly – 2

In all honesty this was a damn good show. Milwaukee showed out considering they’d already seen 2 hours of Smackdown before this was taped. Good on them, and good on WWE for a great go home show for Crown Jewel.

Interesting of note – the pictures for this show that are posted to the WWE website are uploaded in the order the matches and segments were recorded, not the order in which they aired. Just a little tidbit that I found interesting.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

News

Greg DeMarco’s Wrestling Ratings Report: Monday Night Raw (10/30/2023) & WWE NXT (10/31/2023)

Greg DeMarco takes a look at your Monday and Tuesday night TV ratings. What do they mean? Do they matter?

Published

4 weeks ago

November 2, 2023

Greg DeMarco

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 Carmelo Hayes Ilja Dragunov

Greg DeMarco takes a look at your Monday and Tuesday night TV ratings. What do they mean? Do they matter?

Settle in for a look at this week’s ratings for WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2! Both were up against some stiff competition–let’s see how they fared!

WWE Monday Night Raw (October 30, 2023)

Hour #1 – 1.466 million viewers, .44 demo rating, #6 for the night on cable
Hour #2 – 1.450 million viewers, .46 demo rating #5 for the night on cable
Hour #3 – 1.256 million viewers, .39 demo rating, #8 for the night on cable

WWE Monday Night Raw for October 30, 2023 faced some stiff competition on Monday night. You had Monday Night Football as normal–which aired on both ESPN and ABC–along with the usual peripheral shows (Monday Night Football Postgame, Monday Night Football Kickoff, SportsCenter, and the Monday Night Countdown, which factored into the Top 10). 6.851 million people watched Monday Night Football on ESPN, a number that more than doubles when you factor in ABC.

What does it all mean? It means that outside of Monday Night Football–on cable–WWE Monday Night Raw was the top rated show. If you take away all things NFL, Raw finishes #1, #2, and #3 for the night. Viewership did drop off for our 3, but that’s the 10 PM hour that sees kids go to bed and people checking on the Monday Night Football and World Series games.

Speaking of which, that’s another factor to consider–the World Series! 8.126 million people watched the World Series on FOX (not really that good), with another 8.356 million watching Monday Night Football on ABC (yes, more than the World Series) for a decent-at-best Lions vs Raiders match-up.

In summary, it was another successful night for WWE Monday Night Raw, which was the go-home edition of the program. You can check out my Good Bad & Ugly look at Monday’s Raw, where I gave the show an overall “Good” rating. Haven’t watched yet? Give Mitchell’s live coverage a read.

Listen to this week’s edition of Bandwagon Nerds!

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 (October 31, 2023)

Entire Broadcast – 674 thousand viewers, .20 demo rating, #6 for the night on cable

WWE NXT (Halloween Havoc Night 2) for October 31, 2023, had to deal with a myriad of external factors this week. First is the most obvious–it was Halloween! Many people had plans, Trick-Or-Treat escapades and more. That right there will be a detriment to any ratings results. Add in two live NBA games, each drawing over a million viewers for TNT. Combine it all together and WWE NXT was the top rated program that wasn’t sports programming on TNT or ESPN. Hell, the entire Top 12 consisted of ESPN and TNT sports programming, plus NXT.

It’s easy to call this a failure since viewership was lost week over week. But that’s very shortsighted. The fact remains that NXT was among the most watched programming for the night, holding its own against live sports and sports-peripheral programming. If you’re WWE and USA Network, you’re nothing but happy with these results.

NXT, of course, featured the second week of Halloween Havoc, headlined by Ilja Dragunov defending the NXT Championship against Carmelo Hayes in the third match of their trilogy. Along with that you had The Creed Brothers in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares (Chairs) match with Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo, Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan in the finals of the Women’s Breakout Tournament, and much more.

I’d call the Tuesday program a ratings success. My Good, Bad, & Ugly review of NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 is available here, where I called it “Good” overall. If you haven’t seen the show yet, check out Mitchell’s play-by-play.

As the weeks roll on, I will compile some historical data and look more about week-over-week (and beyond) patterns in all of my ratings reports.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!