The internet is a powder keg because Drew McIntyre opened his mouth
Drew McIntyre has spent the last year becoming the most entertaining jerk on the WWE roster. Between the social media trolling, the bitter promos, and the constant obsession with CM Punk, he has been firing on all cylinders. Now, just 13 days out from WrestleMania 41 Night 1, he drops a comment about an eventual babyface turn that has the entire IWC acting like he just killed their dog.
Some fans are ready to throw their controllers through the wall. The sentiment in the trenches is that the current iteration of the Scottish Warrior is the best character work of his entire career. Why would you pivot when you have a guy who is actively making every segment he touches absolute gold? It feels like the classic WWE urge to fix something that never had a crack in it in the first place.
The skeptics vs. the dreamers
Look, the enthusiast camp is out in force, loudly proclaiming that babyface Drew is a boring relic of 2020. They are posting essays about how his intensity as a rogue heel is the only thing keeping the weekly segments fresh. If the booking shifts him away from the unhinged guy who laughs at others' misfortune, the consensus is that we lose the main source of current momentum.
On the other side of the aisle, there are the optimists. They argue that McIntyre has always been built to play the hero, especially in front of European crowds. To these fans, his current run is just the buildup for a massive, dramatic shift. They think a pivot back to face is not a death sentence but a natural evolution of a guy who needs to keep his opponent guessing. They point to his physical durability and wonder if he needs a fresh coat of paint before he hits his next milestone.
My take on the booking trap
Let's stay grounded here. Wrestling fans have this nasty habit of assuming that a change in tone is an admission of failure. They see a heel turn and think it's forever; they see a face tease and think the character is getting neutered. In reality, the company is just playing with textures. If Triple H decides to pivot him in a post-WrestleMania landscape, it is likely because they have hit a ceiling with his current bitterness.
However, I am skeptical. The current booking of McIntyre is a masterclass in how to stay relevant without holding the big gold belt every single month. Stripping away that edge risks dumping him back into the muddled middle of the card. If you take away the insults and the psychological warfare, he’s just a big guy in trunks. And let’s be honest, WWE has enough of those already.
The flaw in the plan
The real issue isn't whether Drew can play a face. It is whether the creative team has the actual narrative space for him to do it. You don't just flip the switch on a character this ingrained in his current persona without causing whiplash. If they force a face turn while he is still knee-deep in his personal vendettas, the crowd is going to reject it faster than a botched moonsault.
We have seen this movie before. They take a guy who is red-hot as a villain and turn him into a mid-card babyface who smiles at the camera, and suddenly the viewership engagement tanks. If he goes back to being the well-adjusted, honorable professional, he loses the lightning that strikes every time he grabs a microphone. They need to be incredibly careful. If they blow this, it won't just be the fans on Reddit complaining; the arenas will go deathly quiet during his entrance sequences.
At the end of the day, he is smart enough to know his own shelf life. His comments suggest he is looking at the long game, but I’m looking at the next three months. If he loses his edge before he finishes his business with his current rivals, he’s going to look toothless. I don't care how great his pedigree is or how high he can jump; keep the man mean. Nobody tunes in to watch a nice guy lose to the next prospect on the rise. We tune in to watch Drew McIntyre act like the main character of a soap opera written by a sadistic genius.
