WWE Has Only One Real MVP in 2025, and He's Still Criminally Underrated
With WWE flying high in 2025, wrestling fans are witnessing a true renaissance within the promotion. For the better part of the past two years, the company has added plenty of fresh talent to its roster, and at the same time, it's breathing new life into some of its longest-tenured superstars.
One such talent is Drew McIntyre, who went through his own reinvention a decade ago. Upon his return to WWE, he established himself as a prime-time player within the organization. Providing plenty of memorable moments over the past several years, an argument could be made that McIntyre is the most valuable cog in the machine. Every high-profile babyface has some kind of storyline that involves him - either directly or indirectly.
While Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, and several others may get the love, McIntyre's role has been fundamental to further many high-profile storylines, and all that without getting a championship belt (excluding those five minutes and forty-five seconds at WrestleMania 40). Because of that, he plays the role of a modern-day heel perfectly. He's fully embraced it, and he's taking it to a whole new level in 2025.
Drew McIntyre Has Been WWE's MVP For Years
His Return to the Main Roster in 2018 Was a Triumphant One
During his initial run with WWE from 2007 to 2014, McIntyre was mostly a diamond in the rough. He had achieved massive fame in the burgeoning UK wrestling scene before his signing, but he was somewhat of an unknown to most fans in America. And to say he was misused during those first seven years in the United States would be an understatement.
He had some initial success, as the 6'4", 275-pound grappler would capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship. However, he was eventually booked as a comedy act along with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater as the Three-Man Band. Unfortunately, 3MB was a sign of things to come, and he was released by the promotion.
After a reset in both the UK and with TNA Wrestling, he returned to World Wrestling Entertainment with a chip on his shoulder that granted him a winning attitude. He was a buzzsaw in NXT, and an almost instant sensation when he returned to the main roster. Since his comeback, he's been mostly cast as a heel, and that's where he's thrived.
11 Years After He Was Kicked Out Of WWE, 2025 Is Going To Belong To Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre is now considered a fundamental part of the WWE roster, but 11 years ago he had to leave the company to find success elsewhere.
Acting as a foil for top stars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk, he has quietly proven that he is the promotion's most effective heel. He's stayed dedicated to that character for years now, and he has performed that persona better than anyone might have expected. McIntyre is - essentially - the guy you want to book against the babyface stars in the main event, because even in defeat, he still comes out shining.
Will Drew Win a World Championship in 2025?
He's Been to the Top of the Mountain Before
As mentioned, McIntyre never really found major success in his original foray with WWE, but that seems far in the past now. He can now boast of being a former two-time WWE Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. And make no mistake, if he can brag about his accomplishments in a promo, he will. While he has won the promotion's top titles a bunch of times, none of those reigns feels very relevant (the COVID pandemic playing a role there). This means that not only can McIntyre still be considered underrated or misused, but he can also use that fact as fuel for his storylines.
That leads us to WrestleMania 41, where Drew has (for now) been shut out of the title picture, apparently leading to some real-life complaints from the Scottish Warrior. Cody Rhodes is dealing with John Cena for now, and Gunther will be challenged by Jey Uso. But following the Show of Shows, you can bet that McIntyre will be on the hunt for more gold.
As one of the true heavyweights in WWE, expect the international sensation to be involved in several title bouts for the remainder of 2025. His ultimate path to gold may become clearer following the 'reset' that the promotion has after WrestleMania every year. Depending on the brand he's performing on and who the titleholder is at the time, he could easily be slotted into the top spot on either RAW or Smackdown.
McIntyre's Heel Persona May Be The Best In Wrestling
Across Promotions and Continents, Drew McIntyre Stands Tall
Throughout the history of pro wrestling, many have attempted to play the ultimate 'bad guy'. But often, it comes as phony and desperate. That's not the case with Drew McIntyre, who has mastered the art of crowd reaction. At the same time, he's also learned a golden rule that many of wrestling's top heels stuck by in the past.
WWE Hall of Famer and Saturday Night's Main Event commentator Jesse Ventura once said that a heel has to believe that he is the one who is in the right, despite his tactics. In every soliloquy that McIntyre delivers, he at least tries to justify his actions. Whether he feels he has been done wrong by a referee or one of the WWE officials in the back, Drew always comes up with enough receipts to at least justify his arguments.
McIntyre himself even phrased it that way, in response to a fan on Tik-Tok.
"The best heel turns are the justified ones," McIntyre posted. "Who’s a heel? Who’s a bad guy? Are we not watching the show and not keeping up with things? Do I have to spell things out even more simply? If you’re a fan of mine, like I said on Raw, you get it. You understand. If you don’t, and if you’ve turned your back on me, if you feel a certain way about me, you weren’t a fan in the first place, or you just haven’t been watching closely or half-closely because it feels pretty obvious to me, or have a short-term memory, or it’s fun to say ‘Yeet’ and do this [mocks Jey Uso’s taunt], which it is, but it doesn’t change the facts."
This explains why McIntyre is not just an awesome heel, he's WWE's Most Valuable Player at the moment. Creative does not need to craft a storyline to justify why he may hate CM Punk, Jey Uso, Roman Reigns, or anyone else. There has been enough "real" beef in the recent past that Drew simply has to mention his history in the promotion to create a storyline. Roman screwed him at Clash at the Castle, so Drew can feud with the entire Bloodline, including former members. He's been vocal about his real-life issues with CM Punk, which gave birth to the best feud of 2024. Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank on Drew at WrestleMania 40, which was - shockingly - ignored for most of the year, until both men had no match for WrestleMania 41, and now they have a ready-made reason for fighting.
Most impressive is that Drew managed to be a main-event player for a couple of years now without holding a title. In the current, stacked landscape of the WWE, this is an incredible merit. Not everyone can be feuding for the WWE Championship, but someone like McIntyre does not need that to remain relevant. Or to make other Superstars relevant.
It's no stretch to call Drew McIntyre the most effective heel in professional wrestling today. And in a company where the majority of the main event roster gets cheered no matter what they do, WWE has a performer who is solidly entrenched as an antagonist who can build a believable and compelling feud with just about anyone. From a creative perspective, it doesn't get much better than that.
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