This was an easy one for me today… my current favourite babyface (or ‘good guy’ for common folk) is THE top face right now in the company. THE face of the company in fact. OUR WWE champion…
I had seen Drew be the top babyface of his brand from the moment he returned to WWE with NXT in 2017, when he appeared ringside at NXT TakeOver: Orlando. He wasn’t in NXT for all that long in fact, it was pretty obvious from day one this guy was ready-made there and then to be on Raw or SmackDown and be a huge star… I mean… just LOOK at him for god sake! But Drew isn’t just an athletic and good-looking guy, in the ring for a dude of his size he’s fantastic, and (and maybe most crucially of all) he has that star-aura about him when he comes to a ring and also when he talks into a microphone too. But yes Drew was in NXT making his return to WWE from the spring of 2017, and by November that same year he had his last match as an NXT superstar, but in the same match he lost the NXT title he also suffered a nasty injury and wouldn’t make his inevitable Raw debut until after WrestleMania of the next year. And when he did he came in as Dolph Ziggler’s heel bodyguard of sorts. Drew would remain a heel until the start of 2019, when the infinite wisdom of Paul Heyman took creative charge of Raw and the tide began to turn for the Scottish Psychopath… During a win against No Way Jose, McIntyre began to try and get the crowd to countdown with him before he hit his big Claymore Kick finisher. Now, if there’s an easier way to get a crowd to like you than getting them to interact, I don’t know what it is. Even Roman Reigns, at times the most hated babyface I’ve seen in the past, even at his most hated people STILL chanted along with his big ‘OOO-AAA’ spot post Spear. Subtle thing to get people to go “three, two, one” but it works. And when we get back to normal you watch how loudly people join in with that one…
After comically squashing No Way Jose the week prior, McIntyre was now taking the fight to a couple of slightly bigger names… and whilst Orton at the time was just prior to turning killer on Edge, Styles was definitely a heel. And not only did Drew lay out the challenge, he won the match itself that followed too. The next week he took on Orton in a singles match…
And well… then the Royal Rumble match of 2020 happened didn’t it… and as I’m going to presume you heard he eliminated Brock Lesnar and then went and won the match itself… just for good measure… so having only turned babyface in the weeks before, suddenly he was going to main event WrestleMania! It was long overdue of course as many had wanted Drew to get this sort of push for a while, but not only was he getting it, he was getting it in the biggest way and on the biggest stage possible. Glorious.
This ^ is one of the most iconic wrestling pictures I’ve ever seen. A thing of beauty.
The babyface work and face of the company 1-0-1 stuff just kept going and going for Drew after that. He was good at it too… and the cheers kept on coming…
After two weeks of beating up MVP on Raw, Drew then sat down and told a little of his side of the story, and the whole ‘Chosen One’ moniker that a certain someone christened him with during his original WWE run… it felt real and it felt legitimate. It was some GOOD babyface SHIT!
Then the next week… things went up a notch… and in a way that few have before, Drew took down The Beast… it takes two to tango of course, and Drew without Brock Lesnar would not be the star he is right now, and the hero to us all that he is… check out this selling from Brock! …
He then did us all a favour just before we moved into the empty arena era, he took out Erick Rowan’s spider!!!… ANYWAY… as we moved closer to WrestleMania it became clear that this would not be any normal show, and if nothing else we NEEDED Drew McIntyre to beat Brock Lesnar just to cheer us all up if nothing else. But there was a difference from this time last year when we were all desperate for Lesnar to lose. That was just it in fact… WrestleMania 35 we all wanted Brock to lose the Universal Championship yes, but were we all REALLY that hung up on it being Seth Rollins that took it from him? Or did we more just want Brock to lose??? … This year it was very clear to see from the majority of fan support and the overwhelming messages of support from many in the wrestling industry (particularly those who had worked with drew in the past from his native Scotland and home promotion ICW). This year Brock Lesnar HAD to lose. This year it HAD to be Drew McIntyre that beat him… you see the difference…
Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar (C) with Paul Heyman to win the WWE Championship
The main event of the second night of WrestleMania 36 began with Brock hitting Drew with a kick to the chest and then strikes to his back, before hitting shoulder blocks in the corner. Drew then irish whipped Brock into the other corner and as he came off the turnbuckle he hit him with a Claymore Kick… but Brock kicked out of the pin after at two. Drew set for another, but Brock moved and then hit a German Suplex. Lesnar then hit another German, and eventually another. Heyman on the outside shouted at Drew that this would be quick but it won’t be painless. Brock picked Drew up and gave him an F5… BUT DREW KICKED OUT AT ONE! ONE?! Lesnar looked furious, and picked him up again and gave him another F5, but Drew kicked out again, at 2! Lesnar picked McIntyre up and delivered another F5, but Drew kicked out once more! Heyman barked from ringside ‘good, he’s really good, HIT HIM AGAIN’! Brock laughed at Drew and said he could do this all night long, he tried to pick him up for another F5, but Drew fought out and sent Brock rebounding to the ring ropes and hit another Claymore Kick. Drew went to the corner and waited for Lesnar to get to his feet before hitting another Claymore… and then waited for him to get up again before hitting another Claymore Kick, and then pinning him for the 1, 2, 3!!! In just over 4 and 1/2 minutes Drew had conquered The Beast!
Since Mania for sure WWE has been… different… but the one thing that’s been clear is how much fun Drew looks to be having as the new top guy. A tv feud against Zelina Vega’s growing stable has been great fun, and an upcoming PPV match against Seth Rollins is for me the perfect first proper title feud for Drew as champion. All looks to be going great for our first Britsh born WWE Champion, I only hope and do think that when we get back to normal then we will have entire arenas going crazy for the top babyface in the company right now. And I could not be prouder to say MY, OUR, THE WWE Champion; Drew McIntyre!
And forever more he made his, mine and many others Broken Dreams FINALLY come true.
Josh.
NobodyisReady.com 