Leg slapping in WWE has been making the rounds in recent weeks, as Vince McMahon has reportedly banned the common practice.
Various stars, including Shawn Michaels, have weighed in on this development, and now former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre has shared his thoughts.
In an interview with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes, McIntyre explained how some wrestlers are “good enough” to get away with it.
“For the general fans, if you’re good enough that you can do it—like a Shawn Michaels—then you’re not gonna catch it,” said McIntyre.
He went on to say that leg-slapping has become quite obvious in modern wrestling, so it’s important to carefully pick when you choose to do it.
In the interview, “The Scottish Warrior” also explained the unique way he uses leg-slapping to strengthen his finisher, the Claymore Kick.
“When I raise my leg, and kick forward, you’ve got a 6’6, 270-pound man jumping and kicking you,” said McIntyre. “I’ve got a very strong shoulder, so when I’m throwing that kick and I also put some shoulder behind it, I’m just adding force. So, you see, it’s not really a leg slap for me, it’s just extra force.”
In addition to this controversy, McIntyre also made an eye-opening comment this past week on WWE RAW. The former champion seemingly took a shot at All Elite Wrestling and the company’s disappointing main event of the Revolution pay-per-view. “The Sexy Scotsman” stated that it was a spur-of-the-moment remark, and he didn’t even realize its potential connection to AEW when he said it.
“I saw [MVP] saying the ‘guarantee’ thing, and I thought to myself ‘everyone always says guarantee, and when you say guarantee you really gotta back up that, you’ve gotta deliver on your guarantees,'” said McIntyre. “What can I say out there that I can guarantee? Sheamus and I are literally going to beat the absolute hell out of each other, and it’s gonna hurt. I might as well tell the truth.
“I went out there, I said that, and I [heard] ‘sparks fly’ come out my mouth. I didn’t think twice about it, I just rolled right through it, I said my whole interview and watched the match ringside—which was an awesome match—and I came back, and somebody came up to me and said ‘I saw what you did there.’ ‘What did I do?’ And then they played it out to me and I went ‘oh, yeah, that could be taken that way.'”
McIntyre admitted that he might have made the joke subconsciously, but he emphasized that he doesn’t like seeing wrestlers take shots at the competition.
“Idon’t like that shot back-and-forth stuff, I don’t see the point,” said McIntyre. “It’s not good for business.”
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