5 Potential Feuds for Drew McIntyre Before Brock Lesnar Match at WrestleMania 36

After settling for midcard mediocrity on the WWE main roster for the better part of the past two years, Drew McIntyre finally broke through the proverbial glass ceiling with his massive Royal Rumble win.

However, he has a long way to go before he reaches the pinnacle of superstardom. His scheduled match with Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36 will determine his future as a main event player and whether he's worthy of carrying the red brand.

McIntyre paid for his elimination of Lesnar in the men's Rumble match with an F5 from The Beast Incarnate the next night on Raw. Considering the Show of Shows isn't taking place until April 5 and Lesnar's appearances on Raw will be sparse in the intervening period, WWE will have to find other ways to ensure McIntyre maintains his momentum.

There will two pay-per-views between now and WrestleMania, and The Scottish Psychopath should have a presence at both. It wouldn't feel forced for him to have a match on either event considering there are plenty of potential opponents he could face with whom he already has bad blood.

Before he wages war with Lesnar on the Grandest Stage of Them All, McIntyre must first settle the scores he has with the following five Superstars. Wins over these credible competitors would further establish the former NXT and intercontinental champion as a threat to Lesnar come WrestleMania.

Six days before both men were set to compete in the men's Royal Rumble match, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton went one-on-one on Raw for the first time in nearly a decade in a battle for bragging rights. The bout ended following interference from The O.C., so the debate of which Superstar was superior was never settled.

McIntyre and Orton briefly coexisted to fend off the nefarious trio, but just as it looked like McIntyre was willing to form an alliance with Orton, The Viper planted him with an RKO out of nowhere. It seemed slightly uncharacteristic of Orton at the time given his status as a face, but it makes much more sense now that he has since turned heel.

The Scottish Psychopath's transition into a fan favorite was inevitable, and he will benefit greatly from working against hated heels such as Brock Lesnar. Before then, though, Orton would be the perfect opponent for McIntyre to feud with as the Road to WrestleMania kicks off.

Orton will also need something to keep him busy while Edge sells the recent attack and sits out the next few weeks out. A match between them at either Super ShowDown or Elimination Chamber is likely and would allow them to wrap up their rivalry from prior to the Rumble.

Perhaps a returning Edge can cost Orton his matchup against McIntyre to set up their encounter for WrestleMania 36.

Bobby Lashley is often overshadowed by most other heels on the Raw roster, yet he has been built up fairly well in recent months.

His never-ending rivalry with Rusev and Liv Morgan has made for terrible television, but his success in the ring can not be denied. He's beaten Rusev at every turn and has also picked up victories over the likes of Cedric Alexander, No Way Jose and Titus O'Neil.

In fact, Lashley hasn't been pinned or submitted in singles competition since June, making him that much more of a threat to Drew McIntyre. He won't gain anything from continuing to beat Rusev, whereas he and McIntyre could rip it up against each other if given the chance.

McIntyre and Lashley were once part of an alliance with Baron Corbin but went their separate ways before they could formally break up. Now is the time for them to interact again as McIntyre prepares for the biggest match of his career.

Lashley has been damaged enough from his feud with Rusev that a string of losses to McIntyre wouldn't make much of a difference. For McIntyre, however, he would be able to prove that he can take down a Superstar with a similar build to Brock Lesnar.

Lashley needs to be booked like a one-man wrecking crew again, and going after the No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship could help him to accomplish that.

The word going around is that AJ Styles suffered a separated shoulder from the Spear he took from Edge at the Royal Rumble, but he has vowed that the setback won't keep him out of action for long.

Styles joined the Raw roster following a near-three-year run on SmackDown and has been one of the most consistent performers on the brand ever since. From his reign as United States champion to his recent rivalry with Randy Orton, he's been a recurring highlight on Monday nights for the past six months.

However, he doesn't appear to have any obvious direction going into WrestleMania 36 now that Orton has set his sights on Edge. It's possible that the injury will prove to be a blessing in disguise as WWE figures out what to do with him at the event, but a feud with Drew McIntyre in the meantime wouldn't hurt.

It wouldn't be any time this month because of Styles' injury, but there's no reason they can't clash at Elimination Chamber in early March. McIntyre pinned The Phenomenal One in a Triple Threat match on the Jan. 13 edition of Raw, so Styles can point to that as being the reason why wants a rematch.

Styles previously faced Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2017 and came closer than most to beating The Beast Incarnate. In that case, if McIntyre can score a second straight victory over the two-time WWE champion, he will know he's ready for what he has in store for him at WrestleMania.

Although Shelton Benjamin is one of the least prominently featured heels on the Raw roster, he has more history with Brock Lesnar than almost anyone else.

Not only did the two dominate WWE developmental together as The Minnesota Stretching Crew, but they also trained together at the University of Minnesota prior to that. Their WWE careers went in different directions upon debuting on SmackDown in 2002, but both of them now find themselves on the same show for the first time since Lesnar's original run with the company.

Other than their quick interaction in the 2020 Royal Rumble match, Lesnar and Benjamin have largely kept their distance on the main roster, though WWE commentators haven't been shy to acknowledge Benjamin's roots as a Lesnar ally any chance they get.

Benjamin attempted to halt Seth Rollins' momentum ahead of The Architect's clash with Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35, so this year should be no different. If McIntyre needs a rival before he battles The Beast Incarnate on the Grandest Stage of Them All, Benjamin might make the most sense.

Granted, the result of their feud would hardly be in doubt, but it would give Benjamin some long overdue television time and McIntyre a few credible victories against someone who won't lose anything in defeat. Plus, the matches could be excellent if given the time they deserve.

It looked like Drew McIntyre was destined for greatness at the main event level following his stellar series of matches against Seth Rollins in the summer of 2018. Unfortunately, WWE never capitalized on his momentum and let him flounder while Rollins' stock skyrocketed.

McIntyre has scored several victories over Rollins since then, including one right before Rollins won the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. Fans assumed he would be in line for a title shot coming out of the event, but Rollins transitioned into rivalries with AJ Styles and Baron Corbin instead.

All these years later, McIntyre's time to shine has finally come. WWE appropriately pulled the trigger on his push at the Royal Rumble, and now he's on his way to WrestleMania 36 to battle Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.

He's beaten Rollins before but never in a match with any sort of stakes. Rollins is among an elite few to have defeated Lesnar on multiple occasions, so he could use that to his advantage if he and McIntyre rekindle their rivalry sometime soon.

Considering McIntyre eliminated him from the Rumble, Rollins will want to get back at McIntyre and hurt his chances of becoming champion at WrestleMania. The two meeting in a one-on-one match would mean that Rollins would have his cronies in his corner, but overcoming those odds would make McIntyre an even bigger babyface.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.