Just How Good Is WWE Champion Drew McIntyre?

Drew McIntyre is now a full fledged WWE superstar. He successfully defended the title at Backlash against Bobby Lashley and is now on to the next.

Drew McIntyre is now a full fledged WWE superstar. He successfully defended the title at Backlash against Bobby Lashley and is now on to the next. 

Sports Illustrated host Robin Lundberg talked with SI wrestling writer Justin Barrasso about McIntyre's parallels with Kofi Kingston and why a program with Randy Orton would make sense as the next big match for the current WWE Champion.

Read the full transcript below:

Robin Lundberg: Drew McIntyre has claymore kicked his way to WWE superstardom of late. And for more, I'm joined by our wrestling writer, Justin Barrasso. Justin, I know McIntyre put together a wish list of would-be dream opponents, but how much has he elevated his status as a dream opponent this year?

Justin Barrasso: Yeah, it's interesting. So he's in a similar spot as Kofi Kingston was last year. Kofi won the Belt in Wrestlemania 35, held it through October, just under six months and McIntyre is in that same role now. So I think he knows that Kofi is still a major star for WWE, but has been removed from the title picture ever since he lost the belt to Brock last October. I think McIntyre’s aware of that, that there are no promises even once you have the belt or once you lose the belt. So, yeah, he keeps just kind of like Kofi did, trying to present himself in a different manner. Drew's look is really unique. The tough thing for Drew McIntyre is, this worked better for Kofi, when you are a baby faced protagonist, good guy, champion - it's good to be the underdog if that's the role WWE loves to put you in. Drew is 6' 6". Drew is a monster. Drew is an action figure come to life. He's not someone that is ever an underdog or very rarely is he. So that's one of the challenges for him. So it was smart that WWE paired him with Bobby Lashley and maybe Randy Orton next, but it's tough with a big champion like that to present him as the babyface. So I think Drew is doing an excellent job and we'll see where it goes from here.

Robin Lundberg: What are your projections for how they can best utilize them?

Justin Barrasso: I think you go with Randy Orton next, which is funny, mentioning Kofi's title reign. They started working together around the summer on the same point that they had that summer slam match. It was one of Kofi's better matches as champion. I just think you need to do more with Drew. You need to present the title differently. We were in a position with Brock Lesnar as champion, where just the belt was never defended on weekly television. The catch is it's a blessing and a curse, Robin, to go every week, though, because if you go every week and you're wrestling every week, you become commonplace. If you don't wrestle enough, you become part-time like Brock. So it's a really interesting blend. I hope Drew can find that good middle ground. I think they just need to keep offering him different opponents until you find the right one that clicks. I think some of the people he mentioned in the story today, Cesaro would be a great match for him, and they've never wrestled before. It's not like you're taking Cesaro away from anything else, but they can have a three or four-week feud on TV. I think just presenting his feuds differently. Some one-offs, some multi-week ones. I think presenting him in a unique fashion will only benefit McIntyre, the WWE title, and the WWE product.

Robin Lundberg: Justin, I appreciate your time as always. Thank you.