Drew McIntyre opened up about why finally winning the WWE Championship in front of fans was such an emotional moment for him.
McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes on the 9th January edition of WWE SmackDown to win the WWE Championship. The victory marked the first time McIntyre captured a world title in front of a live fans in a brutal Three Stages of Hell match.
The match ended in chaos when Jacob Fatu made a shocking return and attacked both competitors. Amid the confusion, McIntyre escaped through the cage door to secure the win and finally reclaim the championship.
Speaking on TMZ Inside the Ring, McIntyre reflected on finally getting his moment and how perfectly everything came together. He said, “Amazing. It felt absolutely unbelievable. I think a lot of people had got to the point where they thought Drew McIntyre wasn’t going to be World Champion ever again, and was never going to hold the title in front of a live crowd was the amount of times I’ve been screwed over over the past few years.”
He explained that beating Cody Rhodes, who he called the face of the company, felt like a turning point in his career. “But I always believed I just needed the right opportunity, and Shakespeare couldn’t have written it any better the way it all went down. I beat Cody Rhodes, the face of the company, in Berlin, which makes me the new face of the company.”
He also highlighted how meaningful it was to defend the championship the very next night in Glasgow, Scotland. “And my first title defense the next night was in Glasgow, Scotland, where it all began, where I first started wrestling at 15 years old. And I was able to walk out there with the WWE Championship, and fulfill the promise I made many years ago where I told everybody back home in Scotland, ‘I’m going to return one day as champion.” [H/T: 411mania]
McIntyre first won the WWE title in 2020 during the pandemic, without fans in attendance. Although he held it multiple times, he never celebrated in front of live fans. He later won the title at WrestleMania 40, but CM Punk’s attack led to Damian Priest cashing in Money in the Bank.
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