Drew McIntyre is still the Undisputed WWE Champion as The Scottish Warrior defeated Sami Zayn at Royal Rumble 2026. Sami and McIntyre put on a great show in front of the Saudi Arabian crowd, but in the end, the Scottish Psychopath emerged as the winner.
In this article, let’s have a look at three reasons why McIntyre retained his Undisputed Championship against Sami Zayn at the recent premium live event.
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#3. Drew McIntyre was never supposed to lose the title
Despite Sami Zayn having one of the biggest fan bases in Saudi Arabia, WWE seemingly never intended to drop McIntyre’s title at Royal Rumble 2026. The Scottish star was already engaged in a heated feud against Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu.
Even the Undisputed Champion attacked both the stars at the latest Saturday Night’s Main Event show. This direction subtly confirms that Drew was never booked against Sami Zayn to suffer the loss.
This is apparently a major reason why he retained the gold against Sami Zayn at Royal Rumble 2026.
#2. To give him a strong build ahead of WrestleMania 42
Drew McIntyre dethroned Cody Rhodes after a disruption from Jacob Fatu in the Three Stages of Hell match. Now that McIntyre is heading towards the Champion on the road to WrestleMania 42, WWE needs to give him some solid momentum.
By defeating Sami Zayn in a dominating fashion at the Saudi Arabia show, the company solidifies McIntyre as a strong heel and a defending Undisputed Champion.
This could be another potential reason why Drew is still the title holder and defeated Zayn at Rumble PLE.
#1. WWE was only testing the waters for Sami Zayn’s future World title run
Before giving a mid-card star a World title, WWE tests the waters to see how the audience will react if that talent is put in a World Championship feud. It’s been a long time since Sami was getting a World title match. Likely, the Stamford-based promotion was merely testing the waters to see whether fans wanted to see Sami as Champion or not.
With the massive reaction from the Saudi Arabian crowd, Zayn might finally become the World Champion in the near future. The Undisputed title match at Royal Rumble could only be a test to see whether Sami had the fans’ support or not in a World title feud, especially against a top star like Drew McIntyre.
So, these are some of the reasons why McIntyre is still the Undisputed WWE Champion.
Edited by Neda Ali