Drew McIntyre Addresses Criticism That He Keeps Getting WWE Championship Matches

Even though Drew McIntyre hasn't held the WWE Championship since Elimination Chamber back in February, "The Scottish Warrior" hasn't been out of the title picture ever since he won the Royal Rumble back in January 2020. After Bobby Lashley assisted The Miz in cashing in Money in the Bank on McIntyre, "The All Mighty" wound up winning the title eight days later. He has since successfully retained it against McIntyre twice — once at WrestleMania 37 thanks to a distraction from MVP and again at WrestleMania Backlash in a triple threat where he pinned Braun Strowman. McIntyre faces Lashley for the title again on Sunday inside Hell in a Cell with the added stipulation that he can't challenge Lashley again if he loses.

McIntyre addressed the growing criticism that he's getting "too many" title shots while on Ryan Satin's Out of Character podcast this week. He seemed sympathetic towards those fans who might be looking for something new.

"I understand some fans may be like, 'Ugh, I'd like a new fresh face in the picture. Realistically, I have been fighting for the title, or been champion, for over a year now — which is a pretty significant time — but I don't think anyone is saying, 'Oh my goodness, Drew's not working as hard as he can to give us the best matches possible and do the best he can with every interview possible,'" McIntyre said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). "I think it's more, 'I would like to see something different here and see Drew do something different over here.'"

Last month the two-time former world champ spoke with Bleacher Report and openly admitted he's surprised fans haven't fully turned on him like they have with other top babyfaces like Seth Rollins or pre-Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.

"In the past when that's happened, sometimes our fans look for the next cool thing and their attention span wavers and perhaps they're not going to stay into that person because they're like, 'OK, we like this person, but what's the new thing I can get into right now?' Or even reject the person who's supposed to be the good guy," he continued.

McIntyre added, "I really didn't know. All I knew was that I didn't mind. I've been around long enough where as long as they care, one way or another, as long as there's no silence when I walk out there, that's all I care about. I'll roll with the punches and adjust on the fly. When you have live fans, you're about to do that and adjust to how they're reacting. It's how you dictate the pace of your match and interviews, etc. But just to walk out and hear the cheers initially blew my mind. We've seen good guys in the past get massive, massive boos, but people are emotionally invested one way or another. I think it's pretty crazy that from what I gather, people have been pretty much digging what I've been doing for a solid year and a half. That's not lost on me with how difficult that is to do in this day and age."