We’ve all memory-holed parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s easier than processing the reality that we all lived through that.
Drew McIntyre is among the few unlucky people on Earth to have reached a global cultural pinnacle during the period no one wants to think about.
McIntyre, a Scottish pro wrestler who was once released from WWE, returned in 2017 and grinded his way to the top of the company. He won the world title April 5, 2020 at WrestleMania 36 — in front of zero fans at the WWE Performance Center, the equivalent to raising the Larry O’Brien trophy in an empty NBA practice facility.
“I was champion for over 300 days in the pandemic. Nobody was there,” McIntyre told me in an interview. “I sacrificed my moment because the world shut down. Unfortunately, my moment at WrestleMania in front of 70,000 screaming fans wasn’t possible.”
McIntyre can’t recreate that moment, but he’s about to have a moment in Indianapolis.
A landmark show for WWE
McIntyre will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The match is part of Wrestlepalooza, a brand-new premium live event, or pay-per-view in old-school parlance.
Wrestlepalooza kicks off a massive new television deal and a new era in which all of WWE’s biggest shows will air on the ESPN app. WWE parent company TKO signed a $1.6 billion deal with ESPN on top of a $5 billion deal with Netflix.
This weekend may very well mark a new peak for pro wrestling in America. The growth of wrestling, plus the increasing demand for live sports programming, has catapulted WWE from the margins of cable to the elevated status of a major sports league. (Worth noting: The WWE show was conceived as counter-programming to All Elite Wrestling, a smaller yet formidable competitor, which is hosting its All Out pay-per-view in Toronto on Sept. 20.)
Indianapolis is becoming a wrestling town
The ESPN deal makes Wrestlepalooza a milestone in wrestling’s corporate evolution.
It’s also a stacked show. The card includes Lesnar versus John Cena, one of the final stops on Cena’s retirement tour, as well as Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch against CM Punk and returning AJ Lee in a mixed tag-team match.
Indianapolis gets to be the backdrop for wrestling history just a few months after the whole wrestling world was in town.
Indianapolis in February hosted the Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium, the first of a long-term deal in which WWE has committed to bringing its tentpole stadium shows here. Future events include WrestleMania and SummerSlam, though dates have yet to be determined.
Wrestlepalooza wasn’t part of that deal. It’s a bonus show that landed here thanks in part to the foundation Indianapolis has built for hosting wrestling events as part of its broader sports strategy.
McIntyre, WWE peak at the same time
It is apropos that McIntyre, 40, has climbed his way back into the WWE championship picture — yes, the outcomes are scripted but the opportunities are earned — in time for Wrestlepalooza.
McIntyre is billed at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds with long black hair and a sculpted physique. Despite having the size and look of a superstar, he toiled in anonymity for years and performed as part of a comedy tag-team before being released in 2014 and working through the independent circuit to make it back to WWE.
“I used to walk around and most people would say, ‘What do you do? You obviously do something. You fall into ‘Game of Thrones’ or something. You’re a big guy,'” McIntyre told me. “And these past two years, specifically, everybody basically knows, wherever I go, ‘You’re Drew McIntyre from WWE.'”
McIntyre attributed that newfound recognition to WWE’s mainstream growth (perhaps it doesn’t hurt that “Game of Thrones” has been off the air for a few years).
McIntyre pushed back when I suggested he still needs to validate his career after being the face of the empty arena era. He views his COVID run with satisfaction.
“We know what we know now, but at that time we were scared,” McIntyre told me. “We were uncertain of what the future held. I was proud of that time and proud of the company and myself as champion to get everyone through.”
Finally, though, McIntyre’s momentum is coinciding with WWE’s — just as Indianapolis begins to solidify itself as a wrestling destination, on top of all its other recurring events. Wrestlepalooza will be a payoff for both a sport — yes, I’m calling it a sport — and a performer that will be overlooked no more.
McIntyre, playing the part of a heel, has earned respect from fans as a guy who “tells the brutal truth in a world that needs the truth,” as he put it to me. But even as a bad guy, McIntyre lets his guard down when honesty warrants it. McIntyre’s truth is that he’s happy to be here.
“I never imagined we’d get to these points we’re at today,” McIntyre said. “I’ve been part of the journey, the hard work, and been knocked down and picked myself up and fought forward to get to this moment. To see where we’re at right now, to see the eyeballs on the product, I’m just buzzing.”
Contact James Briggs at 317-444-4732 or james.briggs@indystar.com. Follow him on X and Bluesky at @JamesEBriggs.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WWE’s ESPN era begins in Indianapolis as wrestling reaches new cultural heights | Opinion
Reporting by James Briggs, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
