Drew McIntyre managed to withstand four Spears and a Jackhammer before defeating Goldberg at the Royal Rumble on Sunday night and retaining his WWE Championship. After the match the pair shook hands and briefly embraced before the WCW icon raised McIntyre’s hand to close out the segment. In a post-match interview afterwards, McIntyre hinted at what was said between the two in the ring.
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“I mean, if the cameras didn’t pick it up I’m not going to reveal what he actually said,” McIntyre said. “He made it very clear that I earned his respect and said some pretty cool things about myself as a person, as a performer, as a representative of this industry. That was cool. It [the match] was physical as hell. Goldberg, he’s not lost a step. He’s one of the most physical people I’ve been in the ring with. That spear is no joke, my ribs are going to have to be checked out after this. But I pulled off the victory, money can’t buy moments like that.”
With the Goldberg feud (likely) behind him, McIntyre can turn his full attention to WrestleMania 37. WWE has two pay-per-views between now and then — Elimination Chamber and Fastlane — and McIntyre will likely end up facing either Edge (who won the Men’s Royal Rumble) or the winner of an Elimination Chamber match. There’s also the matter of The Miz, who still holds the Money in the Bank briefcase and opted not to cash it in on Sunday night (even though he had been teasing he’d do so for weeks)
Since beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36, McIntyre has successfully retained it against Big Show, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, MVP, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, The Miz, Keith Lee and Goldberg. With the exception of a three-week period in October when Orton briefly took the title, McIntyre has utterly dominated the WWE Championship for nearly a full calendar year.
Check out the full results from the Royal Rumble event below:
- (Kickoff) WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler def. Asuka and Charlotte Flair (c)
- WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) def. Goldberg
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) def. Carmella
- Women’s Royal Rumble: Bianca Belair last eliminates Rhea Ripley
- WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) def. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing)
- Men’s Royal Rumble: Edge last eliminates Randy Orton
