Drew McIntyre helped deliver a match of WrestleMania contender alongside Sheamus and Gunther in their battle for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and it seems he is dealing with some injuries from that physical match-up according to a new report from PW Torch’s Wade Keller. That’s not the only noteworthy revelation from that report though, as Keller also addressed McIntyre’s current negotiations with WWE on a new deal, and Keller says he’s hearing that McIntyre is unhappy with his current situation in WWE due to a mix of creative and money.
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“We alluded to this that there’s been talk that he is unhappy with his current situation in WWE and I’m hearing it’s kind of a mix of creative and money and what kind of offer he’s getting for a renewal,” Keller said (H/T PWMania). “It sounds like WWE is taking seriously the possibility that he is going to let his deal run out rather than agree to something that he believes is less than he deserves or less than he what he thinks he has coming.”
It was previously revealed that McIntyre’s deal with WWE runs out this year, though the date of that was described as not imminent. If McIntyre were not to re-sign, his deal would just run out, and therefore there wouldn’t be any type of non-compete clause or anything tied to him afterward. McIntyre has become a fan favorite and consistently is a part of WWE’s plans, so it would be surprising if McIntyre and WWE can’t agree to some type of deal.
It would definitely not be unheard of though, and McIntyre would be a major force on the free agent market if he did leave. Impact Wrestling, AEW, and more would be easy spots for him to land, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.
McIntyre was actually supposed to be featured on SmackDown this week but didn’t end up appearing, and the report says the reason for that could be McIntyre needing time to heal up after that match at WrestleMania.
“There’s a chance that he was pulled from SmackDown, in part because he is just really physically beat up from that match and so just not having to travel and him getting a day off was sort of given to him either at his request or the medical team in WWE just said, ‘yea with what he’s been through, he should have some time off,” Keller said.
It’s not surprising for anyone who watched that match between McIntyre, Sheamus, and Gunther that McIntyre was sporting some nagging injuries after that match, and frankly it’s probably more surprising that Sheamus and Gunther weren’t as well. We wish McIntyre a speedy recovery, and WWE fans are definitely hoping to see the two sides work out a deal to keep McIntyre a part of Raw or SmackDown for years to come.