Just a week ago, Drew McIntyre outlasted long time rival Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship and become the new “face” of Friday nights.
McIntyre’s win was months in the making, and while the “Cody sucks” chants are more of a term of endearment for the man now carrying the torch passed on to him by John Cena, there was a sense that fans had grown tired of Cody holding the championship – and being a babyface.
The McIntyre victory has completely changed the trajectory of WWE plans going into WrestleMania 42, as Cody vs. Roman Reigns is no longer the plan for the Show of Shows and everything feels a bit more exciting and unpredictable now heading into the Royal Rumble on January 31.
Sooner than that, though, McIntyre’s next opponent for the WWE Title will be decided on Saturday Night Main Event, as WWE announced a Fatal Four-Way fought amongst Randy Orton, Trick Williams, Sami Zayn, and Damian Priest.
Each of those wrestlers has their merits to winning. Priest is a former champion, Zayn is still waiting all this time for his first world title in WWE and is one of the best in the business, and Williams looks like WWE’s next big up and coming star with his charisma.
But Orton is, by far, the most logical option right now to elevate McIntyre’s title reign as his first championship contender. Orton is beloved by the fans like never before, as a new found respect has been forged between the fan base and Orton in his veteran years.
He has really grown into a locker room leader, the polar opposite of what he was known for in his youth in the 2000s. Though, even in the preceding decades, he was quietly beneficial to the next generation of great wrestlers, specifically Cody Rhodes.
And Orton has done a lot for McIntyre in his career. The two carried the early pandemic era of WWE Raw with a back and forth title feud, leading to McIntyre now being a four time world champion today.
McIntyre and Orton can revisit that rivalry in this feud, and there is so much material to build off of. Back then, the rivalry was good but not quite great, missing that extra gear that Drew has now found as a heel in 2025 and 2026, as well as the increased admiration Orton has gained after his return from a major injury in 2023.
Joe helped manage the pro wrestling site Daily DDT from 2017 to 2019. He has appeared in many wrestling podcasts and has had his work featured by mainstream media sites and professional wrestlers themselves. Joe also covers soccer, writing about Tottenham for Hotspur HQ, Real Madrid for A Trip to Cibeles, and general world football for The Trivela Effect.