WWE broke the news on Monday afternoon that reigning WWE Champion Drew McIntyre had tested positive for COVID-19, and that he is currently in quarantine. The company then popped up with another announcement later in the afternoon, stating that McIntyre will still appear on Raw to address his condition. It’s unclear if McIntyre’s diagnosis will result in him being stripped of the WWE Championship. The announcement came just seven days after teasing McIntyre defending his WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble against WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg.
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McIntyre was originally booked to face Randy Orton in a non-title match as the main event of Raw, going head to head with the College Football Playoff National Championship game between Alabama and Ohio State. @WrestleVotes reported shortly after the initial news broke that WWE was still looking for a replacement match that would still involve “The Viper.”
Following the announcement of the WWE Champion testing positive for COVID-19, we can confirm @DMcIntyreWWE will make his first comments tonight on #WWERaw.https://t.co/E9EgzbRhah
— WWE (@WWE) January 11, 2021
“Source – with Drew McIntyre out, WWE is keeping Randy Orton in tonight’s main event and are working on finding a suitable replacement to match up against the College Football Championship Game,” the insider account wrote.
McIntyre’s rivalry with Orton defined Raw’s booking for the latter half of 2020, as the two competed in numerous multi-man matches along with four WWE Championship bouts, resulting in Orton winning the title at Hell in a Cell only for McIntyre to win it back on Raw weeks later.
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