How COVID-19 Ruined Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship Run; Explained

Former WWE Champion and Raw superstar Drew McIntyre was once on top of the food chain in WWE when he defeated Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 36 to win his first WWE Championship. From that point, Drew McIntyre went on a year-long dominant run on the Raw brand as a two-time WWE Champion throughout 2020 and early 2021, defeating many credible challengers like Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, and WWE Hall of Famer Bill Golberg.

However, most of Drew McIntyre’s best moments of his in-ring career came at a time when the professional wrestling industry was arguably at its all-time low due to the overwhelming effect the COVID-19 Pandemic had on the business. Because WWE had no fans in attendance for over a year-and-a-half, Drew McIntyre’s run as WWE Champion was arguably forgettable. So much so that his first WWE Championship win in the main event of WrestleMania 36 is considered one of the most forgettable Wrestlemania main events in history due to being infront of no fans at a Performance Center.

Although many have credited Drew McIntyre’s work ethic during WWE’s COVID-19 era when the company was running its weekly shows in the Thunderdome, it didn’t help that Monday Night Raw was at its lowest point regarding quality when he was the top babyface of that show. Furthermore, once WWE was allowed to have fans back in attendance, Drew McIntyre had been absent from the World Title picture since then.

Unlike current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who’s continued his championship reign for over two years since WWE’s COVID-19 era ended in 2021, Drew McIntyre’s WWE career appears to be on a downward spiral. Especially after failing to dethrone Roman Reigns of his championship at last year’s highly-anticipated Clash at the Castles PPV, Drew McIntyre’s stock as a main-event attraction diminished even further.

On the bright side, Drew McIntyre’s much-recent heel turn could add new life to his character as he’s once against a prominent performer on the Raw brand and is chasing after Seth Rollins’s World Heavyweight Championship. However, with rumors that he may be departing from WWE after WrestleMania 40, how much could one expect Drew McIntyre to achieve in such little time he may have left in the company?