Drew McIntyre suddenly disappeared from WWE TV after failing to win the Intercontinental Championship from Gunther at WrestleMania 39. Reports of why “The Scottish Warrior” was gone were all over the place, with some noting he needed time to recover from a few injuries to his WWE contract entering his final year and him being unhappy about both the money offered for a new contract and WWE’s booking plans for him. The former WWE Champion returned to WWE TV at Money in the Bank and, reportedly, still hasn’t signed a new deal. He also noted in a new interview with TMZ Sports this week that some of the reports regarding his absence were true, though he wouldn’t say which.
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“It was cool, getting the break,” McIntyre said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). “There were a lot of rumors and headlines on the internet when I was out, probably like 50 different things. It was amazing all the stories about me out there. When you’re not, you’re not on tv, people talk, and you know, there might have been some smoke to some fire with a few of them, but it was nice. People were talking about me when I wasn’t there, but I did have to get some things fixed physically.
“Unlike injuries I’ve had in the past there was no rehab involved, so I was actually able to enjoy my time at home, work on some outside projects, spend time with the Mrs and the cat, and take a step outside of the bubble and kind of get perspective again,” he continued. “So you’re inside the bubble. We’re 52 weeks per year. You go, go, go. Sometimes you can lose that perspective. And the last time I really had a hard look at myself outside the bubble was in 2014 when I got fired by WWE. So 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 and come right into a huge match and I’m very excited.”
Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther at SummerSlam
McIntyre’s return saw him immediately confront Gunther, setting the stage for a one-on-one bout for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam on Aug. 5 in Detroit. While “The Ring General” is closing in on Honky Tonk Man’s record for longest IC title reign in history, McIntyre is chasing after a title he hasn’t held since 2010. And despite being a two-time former world champion, McIntyre still hasn’t held a title in front of a live crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Does Drew have a shot at stopping Gunther from making it into the history books? Let us know your predictions for SummerSlam in the comments!
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
- Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
- Ricochet vs. Logan Paul
