Current WWE and Universal dual-title holder Roman Reigns has had the Universal title for a remarkable 900 days and the WWE title for nearly 300, and during that lengthy timespan he has built the mystique that he’s utterly invincible — with help from his family/members of the Bloodline faction (WWE Tag Team champions Jey and Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and manager Paul Heyman), of course. That very quality may soon be tested in the coming months when Reigns faces off against former Bloodline member and “honorary Uce” Sami Zayn at the Elimination Chamber on February 16th as well as the winner of the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.
While it’s still intriguing to debate whether it will be Zayn or Rhodes who manages to put an end to Reigns’ reign of terror with the WWE and Universal titles — or perhaps neither of them — there’s another top-tier WWE superstar who’s still biding his time for another run with a championship belt around his waist: Drew McIntyre.
McIntyre, who has held the WWE Championship twice in his career, not only wants to win the championship belt again — he wants to win it in front of live fans this time, a feat he wasn’t able to accomplish due to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had made live crowds untenable.
“I wanna get a title in front of live fans,” McIntyre said in a video chat with Pro Wrestling Illustrated. “I had it for 300 days with nobody there. Obviously, Clash [at the Castle] would have been an awesome moment if I was able to pull it off. Roman’s on this run of a lifetime right now. Curious to see where that goes.”
McIntyre’s mention of Clash of the Castle refers to when he challenged Roman Reigns for the WWE championship belts at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales in September, 2022 at the Clash of the Castle pay-per-view live event. Though he fell short of defeating Reigns there, he believes that there’s still time for Reigns to be dethroned; and when it happens, he thinks that the WWE and Universal titles should be separated again. Despite that, he also, for lack of better word, acknowledged the impressiveness of Reign’s enduring championship run.
“Ideally, we’ll get those titles separated back on their respective shows and back on the live events and all over,” McIntyre added. “But can’t deny what Roman’s done with them and how he’s representing [WWE] as champion.”
As for the upcoming WrestleMania 39, which will be held at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, McIntyre’s matchup is still to be determined. It’s rumored that “The Scottish Warrior” will take part in a Triple Threat match between Gunther, who just had a stellar performance at the 2023 Royal Rumble and Sheamus.
What do you think of the fact that Drew McIntyre wants to win a title in front of live fans and see the WWE and Universal titles separated again? Do you think now that live crowds are allowed again and pandemic protocols have changed that Drew McIntyre deserves another run with championship gold? He’ll likely have to go through Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns to do so.
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