Creative Change Caused Earlier Than Planned WWE Return For Drew McIntyre

WWE originally had slightly different plans for Drew McIntyre.

On the December 2nd edition of Raw, Drew McIntyre made a surprise return to WWE television with a stunning attack on Sami Zayn. To add further intrigue, the return came shortly after Jey Uso had been attacked backstage.

Zayn, wrestling Seth Rollins in the main event, was convinced his opponent was the attacker, while Rollins said Zayn’s fight was with CM Punk. The pair had already gotten into it in a fiery opening segment which saw Punk and Rollins get into a brawl.

McIntyre had been absent from WWE since losing to CM Punk at Bad Blood, however, it had been reported discussions about his reintegration backstage had begun.

Injured Caused Drew McIntyre Switch

As reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider, although there had been talk about McIntyre returning soon, WWE’s hand may have been somewhat forced. Johnson notes the injury to Bronson Reed caused the company to bring McIntyre back early.

However, the star was already advertised for WWE’s holiday live events, including the show at Madison Square Garden, meaning his return to TV likely wasn’t far off.

Reed suffered an ankle injury while jumping from the top of the WarGames cage at Survivor Series. There’s no word on the exact nature of the injury, but the Aussie star missed Raw on December 2nd.