By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE wrestler Drew McIntyre spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News on Monday and addressed Roman Reigns’s role as a locker room leader. “Obviously, I talk a lot of smack about a lot of people, including Roman to a certain extent, but the truth is, he’s everything that he says he is and that’s why I target him,” McIntyre said. “I don’t target the weak links of the locker room that I talk about because that would be easy to squash them like a bug. I go after the biggest dogs possible – The Shield guys and, in particular, Roman because he’s the man around here. If you want to be the man, like [Ric] Flair would say, you gotta prove yourself and beat the man. The truth is, backstage, he does have that command and presence that he has out in the arena. He’s as cool as a cucumber. He was built to lead, so it’s cool to have him there. He deserves every compliment that he gets.”
McIntyre also addressed his WrestleMania match with Roman Reigns. “It was one of the coolest and proudest moments of my career, especially after everything that’s happened and the journey that I’ve taken to return to WWE and NXT and become NXT champion and, unfortunately, get the injury and return to Raw,” McIntyre said. “This was my first year, my first WrestleMania back and to get my first singles match, but not just a singles match, it was against Roman Reigns. And not just Roman Reigns, but Roman Reigns returning from a horrible illness. That told me the company has trust in me. Roman is one of, if not the top guy, so it’s cool to have that show of faith considering everything I’ve been through throughout my career and to get that opportunity was pretty cool.” Read the full interview at SportingNews.com
Powell’s POV: And I still wish that McIntyre had been booked to beat Reigns at WrestleMania, as it would have helped both men. WWE has a shortage of meaningful heels at the moment and McIntyre could have been hot coming out of WrestleMania had he been booked to win. Instead, WWE rushed into Reigns getting a win so they could say he’s back in full force. The most compelling storyline in my mind would have been Reigns having to scratch and claw his way back to the top. It’s an interesting interview with McIntyre discussing Money in the Bank, his comments about some in WWE becoming complacent and whether that’s changed, the WWE wild card rules, and returning to the UK on this tour.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Justin Credible discussing his sobriety, what triggered his PTSD, filming the Credible documentary, returning to the ring, his thoughts on WWE, AEW, the NWA Crockett Cup, and more.
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