Drew McIntyre – ‘There Was Smoke To The Rumors During My Hiatus’
Drew McIntyre last appeared at WrestleMania 39 before returning to WWE programming at Money in the Bank 2023.
McIntyre’s WWE absence fueled rumors over his status, with some suggesting that he had issues with his creative direction. Others opined that his WWE contract was coming up at the end of the year. Triple H later denied these rumors, claiming that McIntyre was dealing with a bunch of injuries that had piled up on the Road To WrestleMania.
However, in a recent interview with TMZ, McIntyre noted that there was “some smoke” to those rumors, although he didn’t particularly point out which.
McIntyre will challenge GUNTHER for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam 2023.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the rumors surrounding his hiatus: “I’ve been off since WrestleMania. It’s the longest time I’ve been out of the ring, ever. I’ve only had two matches since I came back. I will not be at Raw next week and I’ll be going straight into that match. It was cool getting a break. There was a lot of rumors and headlines on the internet when I was out. Probably about 50 different things. It’s amazing, the stories out there when you’re not on TV. People talk. There might have been some smoke and fire with a few of them, but it was nice people were talking about me when I wasn’t there. I did have to get things fixed physically. Unlike injuries I’ve had in the past, there was no rehab involved, so I was able to enjoy time at home.”
On using the time to refocus: “Sometimes you lose that perspective, and the last time I really had a hard look at myself outside the bubble was 2014 when I got fired from 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 — things I want to achieve within the industry and as a person and return with that mindset and come right into a huge match that I’m really excited for.”
On his match with GUNTHER: “I’m excited to get a big match with him. We were part of a triple-threat at WrestleMania, which was one of the best matches I’ve ever had, one of the funnest matches I’ve ever had. He is a hard-hitting guy, I’m a hard-hitting guy — I guarantee you, everyone watching SummerSlam is going to feel the strikes in that match.”
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