Drew McIntyre has major issues with Sami Zayn and The Bloodline. (Credit: WWE/Getty Images)
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Drew McIntyre returned to the ring at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event with a vengeance, destroying his longtime nemesis Sami Zayn as he looks to dismantle The OG Bloodline one-by-one.
The former three-time world champion shockingly returned on Raw a couple of weeks ago to reignite his beef with Zayn and begin his quest of revenge on the faction that in 2022 prevented him from becoming world champion. If that return felt like it came out of nowhere, that’s because it did. McIntyre reportedly returned sooner than expected as a result of Bronson Reed suffering a significant injury at Survivor Series WarGames.
Reed is now expected to miss WrestleMania 41, and perhaps not coincidentally, McIntyre has stepped right in to fill Reed’s shoes as the most dominant heel force on Raw.
ForbesWWE Saturday Night’s Main Event: 5 Things That Must HappenBy Blake OestriecherMcIntyre’s first victim? Zayn, who is one of many stars associated with Roman Reigns and The OG Bloodline—which McIntyre has vowed to destroy piece by piece. The Scottish superstar has targeted anyone and everyone who’s even remotely associated with Reigns, the star who in 2022 posed the biggest threat to “The OTC” and his historic WWE title reign but ultimately fell short.
Talk about holding a grudge, eh.
The best pro wrestling villains are those who are justified in their actions, and rest assured, McIntyre is more than justified in his intent on taking out The OG Bloodline. In fact, he’s already laid out Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and now Zayn. Like so many other stars on the main roster, ranging from Cody Rhodes to Kevin Owens, The Bloodline has consistently targeted them in a way that makes their quest for revenge quite the logical one.
McIntyre is continuing his gradual dismantling of The Bloodline with Zayn, whose issues with the former three-time world champion extend back over the past year. At times, Zayn vs. McIntyre looked like it would be set for a major pay-per-view, perhaps at an event like SummerSlam, and though that never materialized, Saturday Night’s Main Event was the perfect stage for their clash.
Inside the Nassau Colliseum, McIntyre picked up the victory over Zayn with a devastating Claymore kick, a much needed victory for McIntyre after his last televised match resulted in a loss to CM Punk inside Hell in a Cell. That was arguably WWE’s best match of 2024, and it continued McIntyre’s incredible run as a villain over the past year.
It was virtually inevitable, however, that McIntyre was going to lose to Punk, which means that WWE is going to need to do some serious rebuilding of McIntyre in the months ahead in order to firmly cement him as a top heel again after his brief absence. WWE s already well on its way to making that happen, too.
McIntyre is once again a heat magnet on Raw, and with WWE’s “transfer window” opening soon, he could be poised for a move to SmackDown that could push him even higher up the card. With numerous top names expected to jump to Raw in order for the red brand’s move to Netflix, McIntyre would seemingly benefit from a jump to the blue brand.
For now, however, McIntyre should remain a key heel on both brands and a thorn in the side of The OG Bloodline as he attempts to destroy it.
Zayn is the first Bloodline member he’s defeated since his return. So, who’s next for McIntyre?
