Why Survivor Series matters to Drew McIntyre and why he wants to pump the breaks on a match with Roman Reigns (Exclusive)

The 35th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view featuring Drew McIntyre comes to you live this Sunday from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. And once again this year, it will be the battle for brand supremacy.

Teams and champions from RAW and SmackDown will fight for bragging rights and not much else, to be frank. That's just fine for Drew McIntyre, who will captain Team SmackDown in the traditional 5-on-5 Men's Elimination match.

The Scottish Warrior sat down this week with Sportskeeda Wrestling to talk about his role at Survivor Series, as McIntyre finds himself in a somewhat awkward - albeit not unique - position.

After being one of the top guys on RAW for the last few years, he was moved to SmackDown in this year's WWE Draft. He's one of several stars who find themselves representing a brand they weren't a part of just a few weeks ago. Regardless, Drew McIntyre has his motivation for this Sunday.

"I don't know if it's necessarily the stakes and brand supremacy thing. Like for me, it's just the case of we're on Survivor Series. We're part of one of the multi-man matches like I used to love when I was growing up, and I want to be one of the survivors. It's more like personal pride. Like, okay, we represent SmackDown and that's all fine and dandy, but I'm representing Drew McIntyre." The Scottish Warrior continued: "I want to go out there and run through some of the best that RAW has to offer, and when I'm one of the last ones standing, I'm going to say, 'Damn right. All eyes are on Drew McIntyre. I just won the Survivor Series match.' That's what it's all about to me."

McIntyre didn't have to wait long into his career to take part in the matches he grew to love as a kid. His first Survivor Series experience came back in 2009, just a few months after he made his debut as The Chosen One on SmackDown.

Back then, it wasn't RAW vs. SmackDown, it was Team Miz vs. Team Morrison. Not only was McIntyre on the winning team but he was also one of the survivors, joining The Miz and his good buddy (?) Sheamus. A cool moment for 24-year-old Drew McIntyre, but what does he remember most about that time in his career?

"Being nervous. I was just nervous all the time during that period, getting all these huge opportunities, all of these huge matches. Myself and Sheamus were on the same team, which was pretty cool. I think currently we're at odds with each other. I can never keep up. We're on and off so much. We're one of these celebrity couples or something, but yeah, at the time him and I are just getting to hit the scene and we're really making some waves in WWE. Which was awesome for us. We came through the ranks together and suddenly we're going to be part of a Survivor Series match." Drew McIntyre added: "And by the end of the match, there's a famous picture where I think Sheamus likes to say, 'Look at Drew and I victorious with that fan that busted in the ring after the match.'"

Even though they haven't been on the same page as of late, Drew McIntyre did say he would choose Sheamus to take the spot on Team SmackDown that was vacated by Sami Zayn this past Friday.

This will be Drew's fifth traditional Survivor Series Elimination match and the first since 2019. Only once has he been booked on the Survivor Series card and not been in an elimination match. That happened last year when McIntyre and Roman Reigns went to war with one another inside the ThunderDome.

Speaking of Roman Reigns, now that The Scottish Warrior is on SmackDown, many expect him to step up and challenge for the Universal Championship sooner rather than later. Drew McIntyre, though, says not so fast.

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Patience is the name of the game for Drew McIntyre

Most WWE Superstars would jump at the opportunity to compete for a world championship, especially against someone of the caliber of Roman Reigns. While Drew McIntyre desperately wants another shot at the Tribal Chief, he told Sportskeeda Wrestling that it's just not the right time to do it:

"I'm excited not for if, but when, that match is going to come. It seems like everyone on the roster, along with all the fans were like, 'Well obviously this is the match that's just going to happen.' And I'm the first one to say, 'Alright, let's take a step back.'"

If Drew McIntyre has his way, he won't step into the ring with Roman until it makes sense. He doesn't want the shot just because of what he's done in the past. McIntyre said he wants to earn the same opportunity as anyone else:

"Roman's been on a winning streak and a character shift that wrestling might have never seen before. He's got all of the momentum in the world right now. And I can be honest and say, I don't. So for me to jump right into that match, I don't want to do it right now. I'm a very patient man. I've been around the game for over 20 years. Just like I did on RAW, I'm happy to start with some of my open challenges and start proving myself against everybody. I'll start from the bottom. I'll go through every single superstar I have to go through. I'll be a survivor on team Survivor Series. I'll do whatever it takes... to remind everybody how good I am."

Drew McIntyre has been undefeated since coming to SmackDown with wins over Sami Zayn, Mustafa Ali, and Ricochet. Roman Reigns, meanwhile, finds himself mixed up with The New Day. He'll face Big E at Survivor Series and the current story arc could very well lead to King Woods being the next challenger for the Universal Title.

So just how long will it be until the former WWE Champion and Reigns cross paths again? Drew McIntyre hopes it takes as long as the rivalry needs to be special:

"I don't know what anyone else's plan is, but I would like to take as long as possible to build Drew McIntyre back up to where he needs to be to make that match as big as possible."

The Scottish Warrior can really get the momentum going this Sunday if he is one of the survivors for Team SmackDown. Catch all the Survivor Series action this Sunday at 8 ET/5 PT on Peacock.