Why WWE Really Had To Put Title Gold On Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre is finally WWE Champion once again, but what forced the company to finally put the title back on him?

It’s been a great start to 2026 for Drew McIntyre, despite him coming face-to-face with an old enemy. The 9th of January edition of SmackDown saw McIntyre challenge Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship in a 3 Stages of Hell match.

McIntyre picked up the first fall in a regular singles match before Rhodes evened the score in a falls count anywhere bout. The third fall took place in a steel cage, a match designed to keep people away from the action. With McIntyre on the verge of escaping the door and claiming the win, he was stopped by the returning Jacob Fatu.

Fatu took the fight to McIntyre inside the ring. Cody Rhodes tried to stop Fatu so he could win the match, but Fatu then turned his attack on him. That allowed McIntyre to escape the cage after all, to escape with the WWE Championship.

But after two big failures at Wrestlepalooza and Saturday Night’s Main Event, why now for WWE’s Scottish Warrior?

Drew McIntyre Couldn’t Lose Again

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained why WWE finally felt it was time to pull the trigger on Drew McIntyre reclaiming the WWE Championship:

The deal obviously is that they felt that Drew couldn’t lose again. He’d lost two times clean against Cody, and if he lost again, it would be a complete failure. So they decided to go, but they obviously didn’t want to beat Cody [clean]. You end up with what you had, basically a finish to fluke a win, change the title, and protect Cody at all costs.

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