Drew McIntyre Retains WWE Championship Against Sami Zayn at 2026 Royal Rumble

Drew McIntyre has been one of the top superstars in WWE, and he finally had a chance to defend his WWE Championship. After finding out who he would be facing one week earlier, he was able to successfully retain his championship. Let’s take a deeper dive into what happened in the match and what it means going forward on the Road to Wrestlemania.

Drew McIntyre Retains WWE Championship at Royal Rumble

Drew McIntyre entered undefeated against Sami Zayn, being 11-0 against him in his career, but now will be able to add another win under his belt. Sami Zayn won this opportunity at Saturday Night’s Main Event last week in a fatal four way against Trick Williams, Damian Priest, and Randy Orton. However, Zayn was not able to carry the momentum into his first world championship on WWE’s main roster.

Drew McIntyre would win his first title defense by hitting back-to-back Claymore kicks to retain the WWE Championship. He won the title by defeating Cody Rhodes on the Jan. 9 episode of SmackDown in a Three Stages of Hell match. Now, it is possible that he will be facing the winner of the 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble match at Wrestlemania if he does not have another championship defense between now and then.

For Sami Zayn, it appears that he has hit a ceiling of being a wrestler who can challenge for the championship, but not win it. With WWE highlighting McIntyre’s success over him, there was some speculation that Zayn could win, but he lost for the first time in Saudi Arabia. There are a lot of different directions where things can go, but it will be intriguing to see what is next for him.

McIntyre did interfere with the brawl at Saturday Night’s Main Event between Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu, so could that have been a hint at the WWE Championship match at either Elimination Chamber or Wrestlemania? It will be intriguing to see what is in store for the WWE Championship heading into the biggest show of the year.