Why Drew McIntyre Left During SmackDown Main Event

As previously noted, Drew McIntyre left the ringside area during the Smackdown Live six-man tag team main event. While there was speculation that McIntyre got hurt, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com said that wasn’t the case and it was actually something that was planned:

“In fact, he was not hurt at all. He was booked that way. Everything went exactly like it was supposed to go. This is the idea…which I’m not even knocking the idea, I’m just telling you what the idea was. The idea was that Drew McIntyre lost at Wrestlemania to Roman Reigns, management felt it was very important to protect Drew McIntyre because they need him to be a top guy now. Sheamus and Cesaro were going to lose the match, so they didn’t want Drew anywhere near the visible scene, even on the losing side of a six-man tag, they didn’t want him there. The idea is that when you watch the match and Kofi Kingston pins I think Sheamus with the Trouble in Paradise, you forget that Drew is even in the match and therefore he’s not hurt.“