'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Drew McIntyre is a big, scary, bearded man.
Braun Strowman is a big, scary, bearded man.
They are both absolute studs, two raging bulls that can talk the talk, and walk the walk.
The two are very similar, and yet, extremely dissimilar.
They are both physically imposing, and both have an aura about them. They carry themselves like they would rip someone limb from limb, and look like they'd have no trouble doing so. Their fates are currently intertwined in their quest to destroy the Shield. Currently, Braun Strowman is clearly the alpha male, but that is unlikely to be permanent. Drew McIntyre is clearly being primed for a monster push; one that will see him lose the dead weight that is Dolph Ziggler, and could see him usurp Braun Strowman as the top heel in all of WWE.
While their similarities make both ideal candidates for the position of the top heel in all of WWE, it is their dissimilarities that make McIntyre a more compelling option than Strowman. The argument that McIntyre is a better choice than Strowman has as much to do with McIntyre's positives, as it does Strowman's negatives.
When it comes down to brass tacks, this discussion hinges on the characters of Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman; their motivations, their history, and the emotional connection they have with the audience. I believe that Braun Strowman's character does not lend itself to being a long-term top heel and that Drew McIntyre's character is ideally suited for such a role.
Agree? Disagree?
#1 Braun Strowman's character is a bit cartoonish
Braun Strowman is extremely entertaining.
But, he is also too cartoon-ish. Everything popular about him; his mannerisms, his stunts, his signature taunt, is over the top.
Drew McIntyre, on the other hand, is a more legitimate, believable character.
While Strowman is outlandish, McIntyre is intensity personified.
Strowman yells with his arms in the air, flips over cars, and once impersonated his imaginary twin brother.
McIntyre smolders, challenges people to hit him, and then beats them up.
One of these is not like the other.
And only one of them screams "top heel".
#2 Popularity
Braun Strowman was one of the most popular wrestlers in the entire company before he turned heel.
He was beloved by everybody; men, women, and children alike. Arenas would go into a frenzy chanting "Get these hands". The crowd lapped up everything he did; even when he heelishly stalked and victimized Kevin Owens.
This popularity may have temporarily dissipated, but it will be back.
Braun Strowman's entire character is premised upon outlandish stunts such as tipping over ambulances, pulling down the stage, and flipping over cars.
If you take that away, you take away what makes Braun Strowman a compelling character. But if he continues to carry out these stunts, the WWE will be hard pressed to prevent the audience from cheering him on.
A top heel cannot be cheered by the entire audience every time he does something heelish; it undermines the babyface and the entire story.
Drew McIntyre has no such problem. A portion of the audience may cheer him, but he is largely reviled. He will be booed, jeered, and hissed at. He will get the reaction expected of a heel.
#3 Wrestling ability
Braun Strowman is not a great wrestler.
Don't get me wrong; he's not a bad wrestler. In fact, he's rather good.
But when it comes to pure wrestling ability, Drew McIntyre would wrestle circles around Braun Strowman.
As such, Drew McIntyre is capable of having better matches with a wider variety of opponents, than Braun Strowman.
While Braun Strowman needs to be paired with a great wrestler to have a great match, Drew McIntyre is likely to have a good to great match irrespective of his opponent.
Being the top heel means being placed in high profile main events. The ability to deliver quality main event matches every single time is paramount to success in the role.
#4 Drew McIntyre is beatable
Braun Strowman is the single most protected Superstar on the entire roster; irrespective of gender.
He rarely, if ever, loses clean, and has been built up as this unstoppable, unbeatable force. He essentially single-handedly won the tag-team championships at Wrestlemania earlier this year.
In the Elimination Chamber match, he took finishers from five different men in succession and still wasn't pinned. He is so protected, that it is neither plausible nor probable that he will be defeated.
That was all right when he was a babyface, but it is a problem as a heel. A heel must look beatable. It must be plausible that babyface X defeat the heel because the role the heel plays in the story is designed to get the babyface over. The hero must slay the dragon, or the audience will stop watching.
What babyface not named Roman Reigns can plausibly even mount a challenge against Braun Strowman?
Exactly.
McIntyre, on the other hand, can plausibly be defeated by any worthy babyface. He is a more conquerable villain than Strowman.
#5 Braun Strowman looks like a choke artist
SummerSlam, 2017.
No Mercy, 2017.
Royal Rumble, 2018.
Elimination Chamber, 2018.
Hell in a Cell, 2018.
Five massive matches; four of them for the Universal Championship, one of them for the right to fight for it in the main event of Wrestlemania. Braun Strowman was a part of all of these matches.
And he didn't win any of them. Now, there are mitigating circumstances. He was not pinned at SummerSlam, or the Royal Rumble, and eliminated every other man in the Elimination Chamber match.
The Hell in a Cell match went to a no contest. He was only pinned twice. He didn't win, but he also only lost twice.
Were he any other Superstar, this would be a positive, but Braun Strowman is not any other Superstar. Braun Strowman is supposed to be the Monster among Men.
He is ostensibly this indestructible force that destroys everything in its path. But when the lights are brightest, he has failed to get the job done. Such failure paints him as a choke artist because his character has created expectations that his booking has not delivered.
Drew McIntyre suffers from no such stigma. To be sure, he hasn't contended for the Universal Championship yet, but he has been successful every single time the lights have been brightest. Because he hasn't fought for the championship, he has not lost either.
As such, while Braun Strowman's track record paints him as a choke artist, McIntyre's ensures that when he does get a chance to wrestle for the Universal Championship, the audience will buy into him as a winner, because they have not been told otherwise.
