Drew McIntyre made his return to WWE TV at the Money In the Bank PLE to confront Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER to set up their SummerSlam match next month.
The former WWE Champion had been away from WWE because he took time off due to an injury after WrestleMania 39, where he worked a triple threat match with Gunther and Sheamus.
At the same time, he was frustrated with the lack of creative vision for him on television and being far apart on money in talks for a new contract with WWE. McIntyre’s deal is believed to be expiring in early 2024.
While appearing on today’s WWE’s The Bump, McIntyre talked about the Mania match and it is one of his favorite matches in addition to the prestige GUNTHER has brought to the Intercontinental Title. Here are some of the highlights.
WrestleMania 39 match:
“One of my favorite matches I’ve ever had is in the top three. And it can be in any position, to be honest, to have a WrestleMania match at that level with Seamus in there and always make the joke, about, you know, I met him when I was 19. He was 43. And it’s not a joke cause he’s much, much older than me, but I’ve always dreamed about having that big stage match and to have it at WrestleMania finally. And to have GUNTHER in there was so incredibly talented and physical himself was unreal. But to hear the crowd that night, like they were so invested from the start, you know, they were ready for that match. We were ready for that match. No matter what was going on with me physically, I was gonna make that match. And, yeah, I remember specifically when Sheamus gave me the 500 beats to the face, most of them, the way the people came up. And I was lying there thinking, ‘Oh, we’re just getting started guys.’ And I’ve never had such feedback after a match. It was unreal. Something I’m very proud of, Sheamus and I maybe get carried away with the whole personal issue and forgot about the undefeated Austrian outside the ring as we had ourselves a 15-minute WrestleMania match. Forgot about him. Gunther slid and took advantage of it and as he should have took advantage of the personal situation. But I’ll always be very, very proud of that WrestleMania moment in that match.”
On Gunther’s IC title reign:
“Yeah, he certainly raised the prestige 100%. The Intercontinental Championship is where it should be, where it used to be when I was growing up, and I can’t remember it being at this level for a long time. When I won Intercontinental Championship in 09, you know, we still had such prestige and somewhere along the way, it kind of slipped and, we don’t need to get into the ins and outs of why that happened, but I’ve watched GUNTHER’s development since I saw him when I was outside of WWE the first time I saw him in Germany. I said, ‘That guy’s got something.’ He’s found himself. He’s got himself in the best shape of his life. He’s been on a tear over the past year plus, you know, if his lads might get involved and whenever he is in trouble, and I’ll deal with that. But you can’t take away from him what he is achieved, what he’s done for that title. And, right now, you know, with the, the world title, I think there’s gonna be a bit of competition going on with the IC title and the world title. You know, what’s the most exciting segment to watch? I know how competitive Seth [Rollins] is and I know how competitive I am, how competitive GUNTHER is. I really think this is gonna be an exciting time for Raw overall.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Bump with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
