News

Drew McIntyre Defeats Major WWE Star In First Title Defense

By Monika Thapa • Published Jan 11, 2026 09:12 EST
Drew McIntyre WWE

Drew McIntyre has finally become the WWE Undisputed Champion.

McIntyre has been pursuing the world title for a long time now. On the January 9 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, which took place in Berlin, Germany, The Scottish Warrior defeated Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match to become the new champion, all thanks to returning star Jacob Fatu.

For those who missed the show, Drew McIntyre won the first round, which was a traditional one-on-one, followed by Rhodes winning the Falls Count Anywhere. The third round was the Steel Cage match.

As the match neared its end, Fatu made his return and attacked both McIntyre and Rhodes. While The Samoan Werewolf was busy attacking The American Nightmare, Drew snuck out of the ring and won the match to win the title.

Drew McIntyre Put His Title On The Line Against Shinsuke Nakamura

Following his big win on SmackDown, Drew McIntyre had his first title defense on WWE Road To Royal Rumble House Show at OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, UK on January 10.

He faced Shinsuke Nakamura and successfully retained his belt.

McIntyre also addressed his homeland crowd as the new champion and delivered a promo saying that he kept his promise and brought the gold back to Scotland.

“I assume a lot of you have been coming to the WWE Hydro shows for a few years now, yeah? You’ve probably heard me repeatedly make you a promise that I’m gonna win the WWE Championship and I’m gonna bring it back to Scotland.

“Well, the first time I won the WWE Championship the World had to go shutting down on us. I won it twice and I’m proud of what we did during that period, we gave people an escape during scary times, but I swore I would get the title back, and it has been years and years of disappointment. I’ve been screwed over, but still believing in myself because I’ve got this weird condition that makes me mental; I’m Scottish!

“Last night, you couldn’t have written it any better. I won the WWE Championship and the very first place I was able to walk out in front of live fans as the number one wrestler on planet Earth, was Glasgow, where I could fulfill my promise!”