With Backlash creeping ever closer, we here at SteelChair were given access to media calls with the biggest stars ahead of the event. One of which was Drew McIntyre, who is going to defend the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley. Here he talked about the PPV, Bobby Lashley, and his new manager MVP, and what, and who could be next for him.
On his match against Bobby Lashley at Backlash:
“I don’t think we’re going to have the greatest wrestling match ever, we’re going to have potentially the greatest fight ever, but I think for Lashley and me, we’re going to really go in there and lay into each other. People are going to be surprised by our match, we’re really going in there to show the world what we’re truly capable of, and I don’t think there are many people that are capable of being as physical as myself and Lashley. We bring that out of each other. This match is going to be a great match. It is going to be physical. We both worked really hard, but I think Lashley is hanging on to the past a little bit too much. The Chosen One was 11 years ago, then I was in 3MB, and then I was fired, and I had to start from scratch, work my way back up, work harder than anybody in the world to get everything that was granted to me after that. The reason that I finally started rolling towards winning the Royal Rumble and winning the title at WrestleMania was that the fans chose me, not anybody in the office.”
On Bobby Lashley as a competitor:
“Lashley is the greatest threat to my title, but the title deserves a match like this, the fans deserve a match like this. I demand competition, and it’s been a while coming to get the real Lashley. I’ve experienced the real Lashley outside of WWE, but since he came to back to RAW, he’s been trying to find himself. The sister’s thing, be it with Lio Rush, be it with Lana, is nonsense. That’s not the kind of Lashley that is going to contend for the World Title. Where he is right now, the killer Lashley, the association with MVP, this is Lashley finally coming into his own. He’s ready to be in that title match. He is now the biggest threat to the title. The match is going to be highly physical. I am going to win, I am going to remain WWE Champion, but my job is to make sure everybody that works with Drew McIntyre, everyone who steps in the ring with Drew McIntyre, leaves better than they were before they stepped in the ring with me. After this match, Lashley may not be champion, but he’ll be in top contention.”
On MVP being by Lashley’s side:
“He’s not like your traditional valet. He’s not a smaller guy like Lio Rush. He’s not somebody who perhaps wasn’t a wrestler prior. He’s a bigger guy, he’s an accomplished wrestler and grappler, so he’s not the same as everyone else. It’s like almost facing two people when you face Lashley and MVP. Now that he actually doesn’t have to worry about the verbal aspect, Lashley can just focus on the fighting aspect, and that brings a whole new dynamic to him. If MVP gets himself involved like I said on Monday, I think I’ll give him about 500,000 Claymores in the past six weeks. Nonetheless, I’m happy that Lashley is on the path where he should be. It’s exciting to have MVP back in the company. We have good chemistry on the microphone, we just kind of go for each other and know there’s going to be no hard feelings.”
On if his rivalry with Brock Lesnar is over:
“You never know when it comes to Brock Lesnar. He kind of comes and goes as he pleases. You never know when he’s going to show up. At Money In The Bank last year, I was in the match, lying on the floor, about to make my way back into the ring. The music hit and he came out and won the match. I didn’t know that was going to happen, I don’t think anybody knew that was going to happen. If and when he inevitably shows back up, I’m assuming I won’t see it coming, but I know I’m ready for Brock Lesnar. Leading up to the match at WrestleMania, it was a unique situation where, instead of Lesnar dominating his opponent all the way to the match, I dominated him leading into the match. I dominated him and beat him in five minutes. I assume he’s going to have an issue with that and come for me. I say, cool Brock Lesnar, I’m waiting, come have at it. I’ll beat you in four minutes this time.”
On his MITB match against Seth Rollins:
“I was very happy with that match with Seth. I really felt like I needed a top-quality pay-per-view match after I won the title. Seth Rollins, aside from his chemistry with everybody, we have very good chemistry. I won’t go into the ins and outs of how wrestling matches come together, but there are certain people that you really don’t have to speak to, and Seth and I can just go out there, we can go for it. We’re both highly physical, highly competitive, and I was very happy with that match. The response was incredible, and that’s my thing going forward. I’m the WWE champion, if you’re in a match with Drew McIntyre, especially at a big pay-per-view, I want people walking away from it saying, wow that was an incredible match. I want them to leave saying, “Damn, that’s why Drew’s WWE champion.” That’s my job as a champion is to bring everybody up.”
On who’s next for Drew McIntyre:
“I want AJ Styles. I’ve been waiting for it for about 10 years. There’s a lot of people that deserve the opportunity. I say to everybody just keep the faith, keep working hard, don’t complain on social media, use social media to build yourself up and use every opportunity you get, and finally, if trust me, if you keep working hard to keep believing in yourself, you’ll get there, and we’ll be tangling down the line.”
On maybe wrestling Randy Orton at SummerSlam?
“Orton is the one that has to happen right now. We’re in a situation where we’re building a lot of people, including myself, and myself and Lashley together. I think we’re able to help each other with MVP and bring each other up as I’m on my rise, establishing myself as champion and what my legacy is going to be. Someone like Orton is somebody that can make me work up and really learn from. He’s an established face. When people tune in, we’re going to say there’s Randy Orton. If they’ve never seen me before, they’ll remember me from the past. They’re gonna go, “Who’s this guy.” This is where he’s going to help tell that story and really establish me as a top player. I think basically Randy Orton is my Joker. I think there’s a great storyline there, considering if you look at our youth. Perhaps we didn’t make the best decisions, and while I was perhaps punished, he was rewarded. I had to take a long way around to get there, and Randy said himself, he doesn’t always try the hardest. It’s so good that things tend to work out, and I really had to work extremely hard to get to where I’m at today. I think it’s going to be very interesting from a story perspective, I know the match will be good. He’s the Joker. He’s the one that’s going to bring me up, and he’s the one that’s going to cement my status. WWE, book it, please.”
On Randy’s recent war of words with Tommaso Ciampa:
“I think I’ve seen a couple of back and forth tweets. I mean Randy, obviously, he’s going to try and say how he feels. I guess that’s one of the charming parts of him. And I saw Ciampa responded and was a little bit offended. But the thing is, if it creates interest, then people end up wanting to see a match because of it. I think I saw Randy say something like he’s going to do whatever the boss says, that would be a really unique situation. I would hope the crowds are back by then. Because it would be really interesting to have an arena full of NXT fans at a TakeOver and have Randy Orton walk out and attack Ciampa. So, if it does happen, I really hope they save it for down the line when it gets the appropriate response. I think that could be a very interesting crowd dynamic like almost ECW and WWE, back in the day. So, yeah, my personal opinion is I hope they save it. If they get to work together, Randy can’t help but teach. I mean Ciampa’s phenomenal, but Randy’s Randy. There’s a reason I want to work with him for the world title because I want to learn. Because there aren’t too many guys around anymore that have learned from the best. Been around for a long time and can really pull you up. So, anybody that works with him will absolutely benefit.”
On what he would like to see and do in the coming years:
“The big thing for me is a UK pay-per-view. I think if we’re going to get a UK pay-per-view as big as SummerSlam 92. It’s been a long time coming. The fans deserve it.
If you say something you believe it enough, and you work hard enough, it’s going to happen. In two years, I’m going to still have the WWE title. I am going to have had a super show in every single country in the world, all these big shows where you get like 60 000 people. I want to do one in so many different countries, so we can do one in every country when things open back up, and I’m going to be the president of the entire world. That’s my goal for the next two years.”
On his reaction when the crowd will be back:
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve thought about it, and I’ve kind of like visualised a lot of the time certain scenarios in my head, especially like upcoming matches. I’ve already started kind of visualising myself, and lastly what might happen out there, and in that particular situation, I don’t know. I honestly think if it’s a stadium, like an arena full of WWE fans, who’ve been waiting for this for a long time, they’re going to be so loud and excited and passionate. I think it’s gonna be overwhelming. To be honest, I don’t like my feelings to come out on camera too much. It has happened a couple of times because sometimes you just can’t help it, and I’ve got the feeling that I’m just gonna be completely overwhelmed, to be honest.”
Backlash airs on Sunday, June 14th at Midnight BST exclusively on WWE Network.
Special thanks to DS Communication – All pics and videos courtesy of WWE