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A big week for the new WWE Champion, Drew McIntyre, is about to get even bigger. The Scottish Psychopath reclaimed the company's top prize this past Monday on RAW when he defeated Randy Orton. Now, he will take on Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, in a colossal Champion vs. Champion bout this Sunday at Survivor Series. This matchup truly features the best of the best that WWE has to offer in 2020.
Both men are in their prime, producing the best work they've ever done inside a WWE ring. For Roman Reigns, a man who has headlined WrestleMania on numerous occasions, that's saying a lot. For Drew McIntyre, it means quite a lot for the man who was anointed as the Chosen One. Winning the WWE Championship for the second time means Drew McIntyre claimed a permanent place in WWE's main event scene.
"There've been a few people that have been fortunate enough to win the title once, which is a cool thing to win at once, but then have not been able to kind of maintain the position of winning a second time and prove themselves a top of the card. So winning it for a second time, you know, was really cool to kind of cement myself at the top level of WWE."
Drew McIntyre spoke to Sportskeeda ahead of Survivor Series this weekend, a pay-per-view he wasn't even scheduled for until his victory this past Monday. A win, that McIntyre said meant the world to him.
Which Championship victory was more special for Drew McIntyre?
Under normal circumstances, it would have to be really hard to have a better career moment than winning your first WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania, let alone going over someone like Brock Lesnar to do so. However, this is 2020, and we don't live under normal circumstances.
Drew McIntyre defeated Lesnar on the Grandest Stage of Them All for the WWE Championship, yes, but he did so in an empty Performance Center. There was no crowd or pop. He didn't receive the instant gratification or appreciation for finally accomplishing his career goal of winning the WWE title.
While there were no fans in attendance Monday, thanks to the award-winning ThunderDome, the atmosphere was quite different when Drew McIntyre defeated Randy Orton to regain his WWE Title. So how did the two moments compare for him?
"They mean as much as each other. Like WrestleMania main event with Brock at the height of the pandemic, the only game in town, every other sport shut down and I have the feel good story to give the world a happy ending. Not how I envisioned it, but I was truly really grateful to give everyone that happy ending," McIntyre told Sportskeeda. "The fact that it was Brock, the fact that, where we were in the world in that time, you know, meant so much to me."
As for Monday's victory, McIntyre said that one will always stick with him for several reasons. Yes, the additional atmosphere played an important role, but so did the opponent. Drew McIntyre called Randy Orton the greatest rival of his career to date and beating him to cap off a months-long feud was special.
"It's inside the ThunderDome, we've got the fans there virtually. My wife was actually on the screen and watching me as live as you could watch right now. Which was really cool because she wasn't able to be there, obviously, in any capacity in WrestleMania. So that meant the world. And then to cap it all off walking out there like a Scottish bas*** with my kilt on and gigantic claymore setting off flames on the stage. And yea, defeating Randy Orton finally... with my finish, with the Claymore in the middle of the ring - one, two, three. No shenanigans, which I haven't done up to this point with Randy in four months."
Make sure to check out our full conversation with Drew McIntyre above. He touched on other topics including why he hopes The Undertaker isn't officially retired.
