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Triple H Explains Why Drew McIntyre Was Away, Dismisses Any Issues

By John Canton • Published 2nd July 2023
drew mcintyre wwe money in the bank

Drew McIntyre is back in WWE after three months away and Triple H did his best to explain why the Scottish Warrior was away.

There were a lot of huge moments at the WWE Money in the Bank Premium Live Event from London, England and the return of Drew McIntyre was certainly one of the biggest of them all.

For the first time since WrestleMania 39 three months ago, Drew McIntyre was back in a WWE ring. That WrestleMania 39 match saw Drew and his best friend Sheamus fail to take the Intercontinental Championship from the dominant champion GUNTHER. It was a match considered by many to be one of the best WWE matches of the year.

Since the former two-time WWE Champion McIntyre has been away, the news came out that his contract with the company is set to expire in early 2024. There have also been reports that Drew was unhappy with the creative direction of his character in the company as well as his salary. Whether true or not, it led to some fans thinking that maybe Drew won’t re-sign with WWE and instead, explore the possibility of working somewhere else.

Going into Money in the Bank, there were plenty of rumors that WWE would bring the Scotsman back at Money in the Bank due to the show taking place in England, so it would obviously lead to a hometown reaction from the Great Britain fans.

After GUNTHER celebrated his Intercontinental Title defense against Matt Riddle, Drew McIntyre’s music hit and the fans cheered loudly for him. McIntyre got into the ring, had a staredown with GUNTHER, and hit the champion with Claymore Kick. McIntyre held up the Intercontinental Title while GUNTHER was down on the mat.

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The obvious direction would be a SummerSlam match between GUNTHER and Drew McIntyre, both of whom are a part of the Raw brand. McIntyre is a former Intercontinental Title that last held the title in late 2009 into 2010 for 161 days.

At the Money in the Bank media press conference, WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque mentioned that McIntyre had time off to recover from injuries while downplaying issues with the company.

“It’s also a funny thing, the amount of speculation that happens around things. I read stuff all the time that’s printed and put out there. ‘Sources say.’ 75% of it is completely off base. If Drew had an issue, it’s news to me. He was out with an injury and getting stuff fixed. While he was out, he had something else to get fixed so we did it, and here he is.”

“He’s an amazing performer. He is one of the highlight superstars in this era. Thrilled to have him back and hopefully, he’s here for the rest of his career.”

Triple H would go on to see that Drew McIntyre and himself tend to laugh at the rumors of displeasure.

“That’s how I feel about it, and he and I speak about it all the time. When all of this stuff was coming up, it was funny we would talk on the phone here and there and he’d be just laughing like, ‘Oh my god, have you read this now?’ You know, it just is what it is.”

As for Drew’s contract status, PWInsider Elite reports that WWE and McIntyre haven’t agreed to a new contract yet. Part of the reason is that the two sides have yet to even begin discussions on that deal, partially because there’s so much time left.

H/T Wrestlezone