Drew McIntyre failed to become Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania and then disappeared for a while. The Scottish Psychopath didn’t appear again on TV until he was ready to confront Gunther and he will now get another chance to dethrone The Ring General at SummerSlam. For quite a while there, rumors were swirling that McIntyre might be done with WWE. Now he’s back, you might assume there was no truth to those rumors, but that’s where you’d be wrong.
Smoke To That Fire
McIntyre has spoken about his WWE absence at length for the first time since his return, admitting that some of what was reported about him while he was away had some truth to it. “When you’re not… on TV, people talk, and you know, there might have been some smoke to some fire with a few of them,” McIntyre told TMZ. The Scot added that it was nice to hear everyone talking about him, presumably confirming that he’s a big deal since there’s chatter even when he’s not on TV.
Other than needing to take some time off to recover from injuries, McIntyre admitted it was nice to have the chance to step outside of the WWE bubble for a few months, the first time he has done so since being fired in 2014. “This time, I didn’t have to get fired, thank goodness I had some time off, and I was able to sit down, reassess things, think about what I want to achieve within the industry and as a person, and return with that mindset.”
Contract Issues
On top of the rumored injury issues, it was suggested McIntyre and WWE weren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a new contract both in terms of cash and creative. McIntyre naturally didn’t reveal where there was smoke regarding the absence rumors. It may have only applied to the injuries, but some of the contract talk may have also been accurate. In terms of creative, a lot of fans appeared to sympathize with the situation. Not getting the big win at Clash at the Castle in front of a UK crowd, and then losing on the big stage again at WrestleMania, it would have made sense if McIntyre was fed up.
With All In set to potentially sell out Wembley this summer, there was a belief AEW might scoop up McIntyre if his contract expired. That didn’t happen and McIntyre will be sticking with WWE, possibly getting that long-overdue big win at SummerSlam.