Posted on 4/03/126 by Colin Vassallo
Drew McIntyre sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Nashville,
Tennessee to discuss his shock WWE Championship win in
Berlin and bringing the title home to Scotland the next
night, a possible match with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, why he
faced The Big Show at WrestleMania 36 after defeating Brock
Lesnar, not getting a singles match with John Cena on the
retirement tour, being in The Undertaker’s final live match,
and more!
You turned 40 last year. Do you think about how much longer
you want to do this?
“Yeah. I mean, I know my wife feels like it’s gonna be a lot
shorter than I probably feel it’s going to be, especially
with how I feel now and how creatively fulfilled I feel
these days. But as long as I’m happy, as long as she’s
happy, and as long as the fans are happy with what I’m
doing, I don’t see any reason to slow down anytime soon,
especially when I see guys getting up there in age right now
and moving as well as they’re moving right now, because
we’ve just moved so far forward with athletes. Look at
LeBron James or Ronaldo, for example, the same age as me,
and they’re just still at the top of their game.”
How is Cody Rhodes the champion right now? He was not
supposed to get a rematch ever.
“I was under the impression that contracts, not someone’s
word. If you’ve looked back at the clips, I literally said I
got the clause put in there that Cody Rhodes will not get a
title match if he loses against me in Berlin. That was in
there in a contract. Those exact words, I said it in London.
I said a few times, go back and fact-check, but I definitely
said it in London for sure. Then he was in the Royal Rumble,
[but] wait a minute, if he wins the Royal Rumble, he’s gonna
get a title match. That’s not what the clause says. So I
have to fix that, helping Nick out to do his job properly.
Suddenly, Elimination Chamber, I had to get in there as
well. Wait a minute. It says no title match, not go ahead
and win this match, or go ahead and win that match. So all
I’m doing is trying to do the right thing. Make them not
breach contract. And they still breached the contract,
because they’re always screwing Drew McIntyre.”
We talked earlier about how Cody Rhodes got this rematch,
Nick Aldis made this thing happen. A lot of animosity with
Nick Aldis. There are a lot of fans calling for maybe a
match with Drew McIntyre and Nick Aldis. Would you love to
go in there and have a match with him?
“Oh yeah, I can feel it when I’m out there with him.
Whenever we go back and forth on the microphone, I can feel
the people starting to get into it. I don’t feel it with
Jacob. And I think Jacob and I turned a big corner after
fighting like Peter Griffin and the giant chicken for three
straight hours before we fell off a giant platform where I
dragged him to hell with me. So we’ve turned a big corner
for our feud, even though Jacob and I, you look at the
basics of it. It could just be Godzilla Kong, two big guys
fighting. People are happy to see it. But we have this
story. We’ve screwed each other along the way. He took away
the biggest moment for me, being champion at WrestleMania.
We have the story built in, and then we have the physicality
and how good the match is going to be, how good the people
know the match is going to be, and then the big fight on
SmackDown, and who knows where it’s going to go. I’ve got
plenty of ideas about what I want, so it’ll be good. But at
the same time, there’s this Aldis thing simmering at the
side, and every time we go back and forth, you can feel the
tension. You can cut it with a knife. We’ve known each other
a long time. I name-dropped his son because I have known him
for that long. But what a corporate stooge he is, his kid
Donovan must be ashamed of him having such a corporate
stooge for a father instead of backing me, the one who’s in
the right and the one that he’s known for years, and his one
is his actual friend. So when the time is right, be it
Mania, be after Mania. I think we should have a match, and I
don’t think there should be any sanctioning around it. I
don’t think anyone should be allowed to interfere. He tapes
up the fists. He’s been up in the ring a long time. He
thinks he can go with a four-time former world champion in
WWE in the big leagues. He’s probably the greatest NWA
champion of the modern era, since Billy took over NWA. But
he’s not been in there for a long time. He’s a big guy. I
would love to get in there with him, and I’d love to see
what damage I could do, and no one’s allowed to interfere,
then come up close and ask me to stop politely.”
You are now the US title away from being a Grand Slam
champion. Sheamus is the Intercontinental Championship away
from being his Grand Slam champion. Who becomes Grand Slam
champion first?
“Me, definitely. I’ve got no plan to do it, or don’t know
when it will happen, but if he keeps talking about it, then
they’re just gonna rib him and just give me the US Title.”
It’s funny, though, like you’re both one title away, and
you’re right, he mentions it just a little bit more than
you.
“It does mean a lot to him. He’s achieved so much and he
really would love it, but, yeah, he gets driven and driven.
He wears his heart on his sleeve, and it’s going to happen.
It’s just, yeah, it’s hilarious how much has been mentioned
at this point, and I’ve not mentioned the US title, and
it’ll happen. Then I will make it a big deal, and I’ll make
it seem like I really cared so much about it. I’ve got four
world titles now, that’s what it’s all about. It’s a
storytelling aspect of our business. I’ve already achieved
everything I wanted to achieve. If we keep those stories
going, the fans interested, I’m good. If it happens, cool;
if it doesn’t, cool.”