By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Drew McIntyre
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
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 the 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 [Fatu]. 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 U.S. Title away from being a Grand Slam champion. Sheamus is the Intercontinental Championship away from being a 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 U.S. 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.”
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