Who Pitched Drew McIntyre's WWE Championship Win?

Drew McIntyre shocked the world on Friday Night SmackDown, emerging from the show as the brand new Undisputed WWE Champion. With a little help from the returning Jacob Fatu, McIntyre won the Three Stages Of Hell match main event in Berlin, Germany, picking up his fourth world title and first since April 2024 (in which he held world title gold for just a few minutes). When it comes to the decision behind this title change, there were two notable names in particular who pushed for it.

According to a report from BodySlam.net, it is stated that both Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre pitched and pushed for WWE to make the booking decision of a title change. Back when Rhodes & McIntyre clashed at the Wrestlepalooza 2025 premium live event, both men also pitched for a title change, though WWE decided against it at the time, instead opting to wait to pull the trigger further down the line. 

In the lead-up to SmackDown, there were reports of several others within WWE pushing for a McIntyre title win, suggesting that the decision wasn’t made until much closer to the show.