Drew McIntyre isn’t just chasing the Undisputed WWE Championship at tonight’s Wrestlepalooza—he’s using it as leverage for a dream match. In a new interview with Peter Rosenberg, McIntyre revealed that his ultimate goal is to lure John Cena into a one-on-one showdown before Cena’s expected retirement in December.
McIntyre admitted his frustration that despite sharing the ring with Cena in multi-man matches, he has yet to secure a proper singles program. He believes the only way to make it happen is to hold WWE’s top prize.
“Now we’re seeing how good he is but what’s pissing me off now is it’s at the finish line and I might not get that opportunity,” McIntyre said. “So I need that title. I need to dangle that carrot or something in front of him that’s gonna make him pay attention and go, alright, maybe I go over here, and I’ll show Drew what’s up.”
The Scottish Warrior didn’t shy away from critiquing Cena’s recent heel run, calling it a “wasted opportunity” that could have been used to build their rivalry. “I talked so much trash during the time because I know what he’s capable of… it was just quite frankly pissing me off watching it because I know how good he is.”
For McIntyre, the stakes go beyond a marquee match—he sees Cena as a measuring stick. “I want him to because I want to be able to prove to the world I can stand on my own two feet with everybody, just like I did with Punk, when he was gonna tear me to shreds on the mic… I absolutely eviscerated him to the point he was begging for his other tricep to get torn so he could get more time off so I would stop shredding him on the microphone.”
While Cena and McIntyre last clashed in tag team action on the August 8 SmackDown—when McIntyre teamed with Logan Paul against Cena and Cody Rhodes—tonight could be McIntyre’s chance to take the first step toward the match he wants most. First, he’ll need to defeat Rhodes and leave Wrestlepalooza as Undisputed WWE Champion.
