Drew McIntyre recently sat down with Kenny McIntosh from Inside The Ropes to discuss his highly anticipated and critically acclaimed match against CM Punk at WWE Bad Blood. Their intense rivalry culminated inside Hell in a Cell, delivering one of the most memorable and brutal showdowns in recent wrestling history.
Reflecting on the intensity of his feud with Punk, McIntyre revealed the depth of storytelling that led to their violent showdown:
“To pay all this work off with a match that justifies how the story is built. It literally is built to a blood match. I can’t remember the last time that a story was built that way. I don’t believe there are many stories ever of those real, intricate details and real feelings.”
The former WWE Champion compared the long-term storytelling of his feud with Punk to the layered narratives of The Bloodline, emphasizing how their clashes developed into a genuine blood feud:
“You have to look at The Bloodline stuff to get that detailed storytelling and real emotion that had built from the first match to the second match and to the Cell match. Like, ‘Wow, this is a real blood feud.’”
McIntyre also highlighted how their match restored the aura of Hell in a Cell, steering away from the repetitive format the match had fallen into in previous years:
“We had all that aura around the Cell again instead of having to have two Cell matches randomly just because the name of the pay-per-view is Hell in a Cell. We really have a chance not just to have a great match, but to have a violent match. That’s what I was thinking.”
McIntyre acknowledged that both he and CM Punk understood the importance of making their match special—not just for their own rivalry, but to restore the Hell in a Cell match’s prestige:
“I’m sure it’s what Punk was thinking. We’re both very good at our job, no matter what we feel about each other, and we knew to just go in there and really go for it.”
He emphasized the physicality and raw emotion that fueled their match, describing it as a true battle, rather than a series of pre-planned spots:
“If you watch it with a trained eye, you can see we’re not in there just doing the first and the second thing we’ve planned backstage. No, we’re two professionals. We’ve got certain feelings with each other. We’ll say sorry or not sorry later. We both get it. Let’s go in and beat the absolute crap out of each other. And that’s exactly what we did.”
McIntyre and Punk’s Hell in a Cell battle at Bad Blood wasn’t just about winning—it was about leaving a lasting mark. Their match was a testament to storytelling, brutality, and the timeless magic of professional wrestling when done right.
With his victory over Punk, McIntyre further cemented himself as one of WWE’s most dominant forces, and in doing so, he and Punk delivered a match that will be remembered for years to come.
