More details have emerged on Drew McIntyre’s Undisputed WWE Championship win.
On January 9’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Drew McIntyre shocked fans by defeating Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Shortly after the title change, Bodyslam reported that both champion and challenger weren’t informed of the finish until hours before the match. Now, a further update has emerged on how the Scotsman’s surprising title win came together.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s believed both McIntyre and Rhodes were pushing for ‘The Scottish Psychopath’ to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, with the now former champion believing it’d be better for him to return to chasing the gold rather than defending it.
“Both McIntyre and Rhodes had been pushing that McIntyre should get the title. McIntyre was said to be pretty vocal that he felt it was the best thing for all concerned, and Rhodes agreed, feeling it would be fresher to go into this year’s Mania chasing the title rather than defending it.”
-Dave Meltzer
Expanding on the idea that the winner of SmackDown’s main event was decided late, Meltzer notes that McIntyre’s win was confirmed within 48 hours of the match happening. Interestingly, it was said that the change was made as Triple H thought another Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns match would lead to audience fatigue.
“According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, the change of the title and change in direction was decided within 48 hours of the match taking place as were the Mania plan changes. The way it was explained is that Paul Levesque took another look at the Rumble-to-Mania planned direction and decided that doing a Rhodes vs. Reigns match for the third time in four years and spending months building the direction would lead to audience fatigue. Rhodes brought up McIntyre at the same time and asked for advice if it made sense, and if he would be more valuable chasing than defending and eventually decided chasing would be better.”
-Drew McIntyre
Following SmackDown, McIntyre is now a four-time world champion in WWE. After winning his first two WWE Championships in 2020 and losing his World Heavyweight Championship due to a Money in the Bank cash in, the star now has the opportunity to have a run with the company’s top title in front of fans.
Elsewhere in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer noted how McIntyre’s title win affects plans for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania, and it’s not good news for fans of Roman Reigns. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Drew McIntyre’s Undisputed WWE Championship victory as soon as we hear more.
