10 HUGE Tests Wrestlers Passed
3. Drew McIntyre Kills It In Front Of No Fans
No WWE Champion has had it as hard as Drew McIntyre.
That's actually more debatable than it may read on the surface. It's not as if there's no pressure being on top in 2021, but a bad run isn't going to tank business or anything. But performing in front of no fans and essentially starring as the Ace figure - the face of WWE's worst period ever - came with a different type of pressure.
The Face of WWE (TM) is a recap-happy mascot. It's a lame role when there are fans to bounce off. In the dank and haunting confines of the Performance Center, Drew McIntyre with his child-friendly scripted material was almost reading a bedtime story to no-one. It should have been considerably worse than it was, but McIntyre was jocular under the circumstances, which he sold tacitly, and his beefy power-based arsenal was a much-needed jolt from the nihilism that swept over the world in the rawest throes of the pandemic.
None of the material was great. Some of it was actively f*cking sh*t - remember Heath Slater's sad, gross return, and Zelina Vega leading the worst stable in all creation? - but he emerged from the period having done the hard bit: anything sh*tty was deflected back onto WWE itself.