The Future is Now

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns

It’s finally happening and on the grandest stage of them all! Since McIntyre’s return to WWE he has been on a slow (too slow if you ask me) road to being one of the top guys on the main roster. Once the universal title is out of Brock’s sweaty hands (you can do it Seth!) the field will be open once again for guys like Drew McIntyre to stake their claim at the top. But in order to do that, he has to go through The Big Dog.

The Road to WrestleMania

On February 25, two weeks before Fastlane, Roman Reigns returned to RAW to declare his latest battle with Leukemia successful. And oh my god, the pop this man received. Everyone loves a return, but with the stakes of this return being actual life or death, the feeling of seeing The Big Dog back in the ring was incredible.

But Roman also returned just a mere two weeks before the last PPV before Mania. Of course, they were not NOT going to use Roman - I mean, it’s Roman Reigns! - so WWE haphazardly threw together yet another SHIELD reunion versus a stable of random baddies - Lashley, Corbin and McIntyre.

Fastlane went as you’d expect - the SHIELD boys coming out on top - but on the following RAW McIntyre wasn’t done with them. Although, Reigns was supposed to fight Corbin in his first post his return singles match, McIntyre had other plans.

Before the match could get under way McIntyre attacked Reigns and chaos ensued. McIntyre continued to be a bee (they have bee’s in Scotland right?) in The SHIELD’s bonnet until he finally formally challenged him to a WrestleMania match.

The promo from McIntyre was a bit awkward (not totally sure how I feel about him bringing up Roman’s Leukemia quite so much. It’s tricky because on one hand you have to address, but on the other it’s just kind go tacky. Good heel work though, I guess?) but it got the job done and Roman, naturally, accepted.

This is, honestly, best case scenario for both men. Especially if one considers both their lack of time to tell this story and WWE’s seemingly inability to write coherent story lines these days, They needed to keep Roman out of the title picture for now - as Roman said, Seth tended his yard when he was away, and now Seth gets to reap the rewards - but they also need something meaningful to do with him. As for Drew, I mean, a singles match at WrestleMania bodes well for the future of the Scottish Psychopath.

They are both close enough to the Universal Title picture to remain relevant in the near future title scene, but far enough away to tell their own story.

And on a purely cavemen level, I can’t wait to see the Claymore versus The Superman Punch! Sometimes you just want to watch two big dudes beat the hell out of each other and there is enough animosity wrapped up in this feud that that’s exactly what we are going to get!

Who will win?

Roman is obviously going to win, but that’s ok. He just got back from his battle with cancer and, as cynical as it sounds, that triumphant return has finally made him the baby face WWE wanted him to be all along. And he should win. He can call himself The Big Dog all he wants, but he needs to reestablish himself in said position. Lots of guys stepped up when he was gone, and he needs to remind the universe why WWE is his yard.

And what about Drew? If Drew can survive teaming with Dolph for that long, he can survive anything! I’m not actually joking either. Part of the reason Drew’s rise to the top has been so slow is because he has been constantly put into half-hearted stables and teams. I mean, come on, Lashley, Corbin and McIntyre? That was never going to work. Drew losing, but putting up a great fight as a true singles competitor is actually great for him. A loss to Roman isn’t really going to hurt his standings because, frankly, everyone will assume he is going to lose anyways. As long as they continue to push him as a singles heel messing up Roman and Seth’s plans than he will be fine.

It really boils down to can these two put on a WrestleMania caliber match with no real stakes on the line? I think they can. Two big dudes, with two big futures in the company.