50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE Royal Rumble
6. Drew McIntyre Was Robbed Of More
There's a mixture of happiness and sadness when re-watching Drew McIntyre's dramatic Royal Rumble triumph from 2020. The response to his elimination of Brock Lesnar (one of the best Claymore Kicks ever) and victory was thunderous. WWE must've known they had a breakout babyface star on their hands, and everyone was eager for more of those pops come WrestleMania 36.
You know what happened next.
The global pandemic hit, and 'Mania 36 was shunted behind closed doors at the quaint, atmosphere-less Performance Center. Sadly, this meant McIntyre spinning around in ecstasy as a massive live crowd roared their approval was a one-off during his face rise. It had to be iced after the Rumble, and Drew was robbed of another similar moment when taking the belt from Lesnar in Tampa Bay.
It's kinda chilling to watch anything from January 2020 knowing that the world was less than a few months away from screeching to a halt. Obviously, the general public had bigger things to worry about than someone getting a WrestleMania moment they deserved, which McIntyre deftly handled in the media. He showed himself to be a fine human being by putting wrestling in its place behind real-life concerns.
However, selfishly from a fan perspective, it genuinely sucks that Drew never got to experience what he'd earned. He had fans in raptures at the Rumble, and everyone was ready to cheer him on heading into the biggest night of his career. Then, COVID changed everything, WWE had to pivot, and McIntyre had to try salvage something from a title run in front of exactly 0 live fans.