Drew McIntyre Nearly Pulled From Major SmackDown Match

It would seem that extreme illness almost caused Drew McIntyre to be unable to compete in a recent match.

On the 10th March 2023 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, a five-way contest took place in attempt to determine who would challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 39. The match included McIntyre, Sheamus, Karrion Kross, and eventually Xavier Woods. Kofi Kingston was originally slated to be in the match, however he was pulled due to injury and replaced by his New Day teammate.

However, it would now appear that there was nearly another change to the match. A report from Pro Wrestling Insider has claimed that Drew McIntyre was “extremely ill” during the week leading up to the taping, and was only eventually cleared to compete when he arrived at the arena and was checked over.

The report also went on to note how ‘The Scottish Warrior’ is considered a locker room leader, especially due to how he works through injuries and illness. He had been part of a number of house shows in the week leading up to SmackDown despite being so ill.

In the end there was no decisive winner to the contest, as both Sheamus and Drew McIntyre earned a pinfall at the same time and were declared joint winners. Later in the show, Gunther went to Adam Pearce to demand that one challenger for ‘The Showcase Of The Immortals’ was determined, at which point the matchmaker booked McIntyre against Sheamus for the upcoming episode of the blue brand.