For most wrestling fans, there comes a time when you really like a wrestler that you can see just isn’t going anywhere. It can be very frustrating. You can see the potential in that superstar, why can’t the people who run these companies?
For me, that wrestler is Drew McIntyre. And the funny thing is, I didn’t care about him at first. I didn’t like The Chosen One gimmick. The “hand-picked protégé” gimmick can be a tricky one to make work, but Drew won me over with his in-ring ability. He has a very innovative offense, mixing power with agility. While not the best talker in the business, he can hold his own on the mic. And he has seen some success. But that success was usually short lived, and for some reason, stalled before he could really get going.
With The Chosen One gimmick, McIntyre was hand-picked by Vince McMahon. He enjoyed a string of victories, including a run as Intercontinental Champion. But relying on Vince eventually led to losses being expunged from the record by McMahon. As losses added up, McIntyre had to constantly rely on McMahon’s involvement, and bullying tactics to advance. When Vince was written off of television after an attack from the Nexus, things slowed down for McIntyre. Although, it was partially due to his work visa expiring, which was even worked into the story lines, things were still quiet. But, in time, McIntyre would see gold again.
In the fall of September 2010, McIntyre would team up with “Dashing” Cody Rhodes and capture the tag team titles. I liked them as a team. They had a good chemistry, but as is often the case, they were the victim of a bigger angle and lost the titles only a month later to the Nexus’ David Otunga and John Cena. The team was dissolved after this and once again, McIntyre was left with his wheels spinning. As a fan, I was growing more and more frustrated that he wasn’t being used to the best of his ability. He had a long standing drought of not appearing on either Raw or Smackdown.
When he finally did make some appearances on Smackdown, he wound up in a ridiculous feud with GM Teddy Long, although, the feud with Long did get Drew back on television. Long decided it was time to justify the enormous contract that McIntyre had signed, bringing back the Chosen One angle, and as the story went, Drew began losing……. a lot. While I didn’t like the losing streak, I saw it as a potential for change. Much like MVP’s losing streak from a few years before led to a face turn and push for him, I saw the same for Drew. Instead, after being “fired” by Teddy Long, McIntyre managed to get his job back and continued his heelish ways until he was once again rarely seen on Raw or Smackdown.
He did start getting what seemed to be a slight push as a face, wrestling on the lower shows like Superstars. He got a decent reaction from fans, and even beat Jinder Mahal on an episode of Superstars. About a week and a half later McIntyre would be seen again with Mahal. Only this time they would join forces and form 3MB along with Heath Slater. Once again, I had gotten my hopes up. While I was enjoying the babyface push, this was a move that would get McIntyre back on the A level shows. A new stable! Sure they were a little goofy, and acted like they were a band when they were just a bunch of guys playing air guitar, but I was happy he was on TV. Yes, they were on the main shows. That is until the novelty started to wear off. Now, while Drew McIntyre is sometimes seen on Smackdown or Raw, it’s simply to job to another guy rising up the ladder, or to cheer on a fellow 3MB member as they job to another guy rising up the ladder.
I keep asking myself, ‘where will it end?’ I realize that the WWE has a rather large roster, and not everyone can get a push, or be a main event star all at the same time. But I feel like the more Drew McIntyre digs his way out of the hole, the more dirt gets piled on. And while there are many people who aren’t fans of McIntyre, and probably feel the company should cut their losses and let him go, I just can’t help but see the wasted potential and misuse of a man who was once The Chosen One.
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