Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Drew Mcintyre, WWE, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Tyson Fury, Wrestling, Spotlight
Ryan Smart
Topics: Drew Mcintyre, WWE, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Tyson Fury, Wrestling, Spotlight
Drew McIntyre has only one next opponent in mind after he takes on Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The Scottish Warrior is looking to capture his fourth WWE world title in Salt Lake City, Utah.
McIntyre has failed to win gold in two title matches against Rhodes during his current reign, winning via DQ last Friday on SmackDown when Rhodes hit him with his title belt.
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“I’ve been screwed so many times,” McIntyre told SPORTbible in an exclusive interview. “It’s amazing I’m not worse than I am with all the stuff I’ve been through.
“But I also see the truth. Cody’s an act. He’s a very, very bright individual, very talented individual, one of the best in the entire world.
“What he’s putting out there is just always best for the company. He believes it’s best for the company. That’s why he’s so convincing. Whatever he does, namely behind the scenes, to ensure he keeps the titles, like getting the referees in his corner or, after Wrestlepalooza, bashing me in the face with the title.
“I know this world needs Drew McIntyre, the world needs Drew McIntyre, because we don’t need some big fake smile, we’re all happy to be here, every week. We need the harsh, brutal truth. Sometimes, I’ll make you happy. Sometimes I will make you angry. That’s just the reality of life.
“Cody knows I’ve got his number. It’s very clear that he knows I’m his greatest competition. That I’m exactly like him in many ways, but I’m willing to actually tell the truth, and I’m a lot bigger and a lot more experienced.
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“So after Saturday, goodbye Cody.”
Should he succeed in winning gold in Utah, McIntyre still wants WWE to organise an open top bus parade to celebrate back in the UK - something he hoped to do before winning his first world title in 2020 and the COVID-19 lockdowns.
But first, it would be straight back to business for the UK’s first world champion.
And having surprisingly never faced John Cena one-on-one throughout his career, McIntyre still holds out hope that he can step inside the ring with the 17-time world champion - even if Cena only has four appearances left before retirement.
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“I know a lot of people online, and the chatter… a lot of people in the locker room, saying, ‘I would love to see you guys not just wrestle, but get on the microphone together’, because there’s so few people that can keep up with Cena,” the Scot said.
“He is the absolute GOAT on the microphone when it comes to shredding people. He’s not just good at coming up with material prior, getting out there, he’s so quick on his feet.
“I always said that I wanted to test myself against the best on the mic. People would say, ‘Drew, big guy, good wrestler, but maybe he could do with being a better talker’. And I was like, ‘What? Have you seen my indie stuff?’
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“Finally, when I got with Punk … I proceeded to shred him completely. And then I continued that for like, a year. And then that’s when people truly saw what I was capable of.
“I wanted to show that against someone like Punk, who is known as one of the best talkers of all time. I believe Cena genuinely is, and he’s so quick on his feet.
“I’d love that opportunity to tear him to pieces, then get him in the ring and send him right back to Hollywood - where he’s doing a fantastic job.”
After Cena’s retirement, WWE embark on the Road to the Royal Rumble tour in January - which features one live event date in Glasgow, Scotland.
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McIntyre says it would be ‘amazing’ to return home for the first time as WWE Undisputed Champion, while he again presented the case for WrestleMania to be held in Scotland.
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do [return home with the title], I think I started talking about it in 2019, going into the Royal Rumble in 2020 when I won, that I’m going to win the Rumble, win the title, get an open top bus, parade it around the UK as the only ever British champion,” he stated.
“I can’t believe that, with William Regal, The British Bulldog, Wade Barrett, other people [all not winning the title], finally I was the first one to do it.
“And now finally, I have the chance to get this title, pull off the big one on Saturday. I've got to overcome Cody’s politics and influence to make sure I win the big one.
“Then I’ll bring the title home, then we have ourselves a parade and take it to WrestleMania.”
“We’ve got places we can have WrestleMania,” McIntyre added when asked about ‘The Show of Shows’ being in Scotland. “We can have it at Murrayfield, and everyone would travel, not just from in the UK.
“Then we get to check out the lovely scenery. I’d love to actually see some of the scenery - I moved to America straight from university, 21 turning 22.
“When you grow up with a 10th century castle down your street, you don’t really think to see the historical aspects of your country. Now I’m a little older, a little wiser, let’s see how cool Scotland actually is. What history we have.
“I want to do the sightseeing stuff, I want to do the tourist stuff.
“I cannot wait to do media on top of Edinburgh Castle or something. Head to some of the football games, a few Rangers games - we’ll finally be back on form after a disastrous start to the season. I’ll be right there, for one WrestleMania.”
McIntyre finally reflected on one of his most recent visits to the UK with WWE, which saw him lose to Roman Reigns at Clash at the Castle in 2021 before singing ‘American Pie’ live on-air with Tyson Fury.
The Scot described that as ‘one of the worst moments of my career’, revealing that he didn’t know at the time that the broadcast was still on-air.
He added, though, that his singing voice might just have inspired Liam and Noel Gallagher to reform Oasis - while calling out Fury for another WWE fight if he was ever interested.
“Maybe it was that little song, right there, my angelic voice, was heard by Noel and Liam,” he said. “Maybe they were inspired and thought, ‘You know what? We need to get back together, lads. Let’s reunite the band, because Drew was just so inspiring in that sing-along right there’.
“I don’t believe there was anything planned after that with Tyson. There was conversations, as far as I know. I wasn’t privy to them.
“But I’d be happy to knock the big dosser’s head into next week. I’ve always said that. What’s he going to do when he’s on his back?”
Tickets for Road to Royal Rumble including Monday Night RAW in Belfast and Friday Night SmackDown in London are available now. Fans can buy tickets here: wwe.com/events
Saturday Nights Main Event is available to watch via WWE’s YouTube Channel tomorrow from 12 AM GMT.