WWE’s Day 1 pay-per-view saw Drew McIntyre pick up a victory over Madcap Moss in about 10 minutes on Saturday night. After the bout, “The Scottish Warrior” was attacked backstage by Moss and Happy Corbin, culminating in the two heels wrapping a steel chair around McIntyre’s neck and smashing it with a large piece of metal. This was, according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, meant to write the former WWE Champion off television as he has been dealing with legitimate neck issues for the past few weeks. It was also noted that sources expect McIntyre to be back soon as the injury angle will result in a “short-term hiatus.”
McIntyre wrestled a whopping 18 matches in December alone, most of which came during WWE’s tour immediately following Christmas Day. Many wrestlers had been pulled from that tour due to growing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving stars like McIntyre and Sheamus to carry the live shows.
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The injury also raises more questions about the WWE Universal Championship picture. McIntyre seemed to be gearing up for a title bout with Roman Reigns, but the champ was pulled from Day 1 due to testing positive for COVID-19. This resulted in the current No. 1 contender, Brock Lesnar, getting bumped over to the WWE Championship match and winning the gold.ย
“It would mean a lot to me. You know it’s interesting, Roman and I have quite the history since I’ve returned to WWE and perhaps the roles are a little bit reversed,” McIntyre said on Talking Smack back in October. “I’ve been watching what Roman’s been doing over this past year and I might not like how he does things a lot of the time but he is operating at a different level. He always talks about these levels, and right now he is at the absolute top. To be honest, not just the top of SmackDown, but the top of this industry. I want Roman. I want that match. I tangled with him last year. He needed a bit of help to get that victory, but I know I can take him down. As much as winning those two WWE Championships meant to me, where Roman’s at right now, taking him down, taking the Universal Championship would be the biggest moment of Drew McIntyre’s career.”
