I finally got a chance to watch Smackdown, and a buddy of mine warned me about the debut of Drew McIntyre. I had already seen some of his work in FCW, so I was thrilled to hear that he got called up to the main roster. From what I read, it wouldn't be too far from accurate to say that most people thought McIntyre was being fed to R-Truth.
If you thought that, boy were you wrong.
McIntyre didn't get a spiffy entrance like Sheamus did, equipped with cool Celtic music and a cocky swagger that screamed of years of Irish bloodshed and a disdain for the English since birth. Nope. Drew was simply standing in the ring, scowling like a pony-tailed Randy Orton impersonator. Not intimidating in the least.
R-Truth bounced down the aisle towards the ring, singing his rap son and high-fiving the kiddies along the way. Smiling, grinning, just'a happy to be in Phoenix, AZ for this particular taping of Smackdown. He got up on the ring apron, tried to step thru the ropes.....
BAM!!!! Kick to the head by McIntyre, who then proceeds to beat him, eventually leveling R-Truth with what looked to be a double-underhook leaping DDT. He then picks up the mic and then proceeds to tell the crowd that "the party was over," in his own lil' Scottish way. How cool was that?!?!
Now don't get me wrong: I like R-Truth, and I'm actually amazed that he's getting over with the fans (I guess they like that whole "What's UP?" thing he's got going for him); BUT, what I do find interesting is that he's being used to put over McIntyre, a man whom most fans aren't familiar with. However, with every cloud there's a silver lining, and fortunately for the WWE Universers, there are TWO silver linings to a McIntyre/R-Truth feud:
1) Apparently, wrestlers from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland don't "play" when it comes to wrestling.
Sheamus is serious. William Regal is serious. Finlay is serious. Drew McIntyre is nooooo exception.
2) R-Truth is the 2009 version of King Booker.
I figure R-Truth will be a WWE Heavyweight Champion by 2014. It took Booker T 6 years to get that championship around his waist, and just about that same amount of time for Beniot and Guerrero. I figure the WWE wants to remove the stench of TNA from R-Truth's persona before making him a WWE Orginal.
At any rate, here's to the smashing (pun intended) debut of Drew McIntyre; let's hope he doesn't end up being The Great Khali's whipping boy.

