Barring a rare exception, all WWE teams are destined for an ugly breakup. And it looks like Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre are in the early stages of a split.
The Show, as they call themselves, walked into Monday as favorites to win RAW’s tag team battle royal for a crack at Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy’s RAW Tag Team Championships. However, that didn’t happen. And the most diabolical duo on RAW may already be pointing fingers.
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In their post-match interview, McIntyre, instead of talking, held a menacing 1,000-yard stare. The only time he broke his gaze was to send side-eye to Ziggler.
The tense segment will be used as foreshadowing in the coming weeks where McIntyre will likely obliterate Ziggler in a highly public setting.
However, no one expected the team of McIntyre and Ziggler to last long. Reports indicate that Vince McMahon is high on McIntyre and a rise through the singles ranks seems imminent. But first McIntyre will have to shed Ziggler.
McIntyre joined Jim Ross on the Ross Report and didn’t act like he and Zigler had an unbreakable bond.
“I didn’t quite know what was going on,” McIntyre said. “Dolph’s somebody I go way back with. I was really looking forward to working with him.”
“People are asking a lot of questions,” McIntyre said. “A lot of people are jumping way ahead and I appreciate all the positive things everybody is saying, but let’s just remember there are 52 weeks of TV a year. Let’s just take our time — introduce the casual audience who Drew McIntyre is now.”
The Show was created as a vehicle for exactly that—reintroducing McIntyre to the WWE audience. WWE must feel they’ve accomplished this if they are already teaing a breakup and now we can start guessing where McInty winds up after the split. to Jim Ross the answer is obvious
“[Drew] McIntyre looks great. He sounds great, he’s in great condition, he’s just getting better and better. He’s a big time player. I could see, very easily, Drew McIntyre being a Universal or WWE Champion down the road.
Without a doubt, it’s a lay-up. Trust me on this one.”
With or without Ziggler, there is a palpable renaissance story brewing for McIntyre. This is Scotsmen’s second crack at WWE—his first coming back in 2009 where he was introduced by Vince McMahon as a “future World Heavyweight Champion.” While McIntyre did notch a turn with the Intercontinental Championship and Tag Team Championship, McIntyre never approached the lofty proclamation McMahon saddled him with. By 2014, McIntyre was out of WWE.
Since his release, McIntyre was nothing short of a wrestling mercenary as he worked in TNA, ICW, Evolve, and PWG. But in 2017, he was back in WWE, this time in Triple H’s NXT. He’d become NXT Champion by defeating Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn but would tear his biceps in November. Upon recovery, WWE sent him straight o RAW in the Superstar Shake-Up.
