Why Drew McIntyre Chose To Be Professional During Heated WWE Promo
Drew McIntyre knew he could hit CM Punk where it hurts with a promo during their rivalry, but he chose to be professional instead.
The best feud in WWE in 2024 in the eyes of most fans was the rivalry between former WWE World Champions Drew McIntyre and CM Punk. After Drew hit Punk with a DDT in the 2024 Royal Rumble, Punk tore his triceps and was on the sidelines for six months while rehabbing his injury.
What was incredible about the feud is that they were able to keep the rivalry going even when Punk couldn’t wrestle because he was there to screw McIntyre out of the World Title on multiple occasions.
Their three-match series ended with a WWE Match of the Year performance inside Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood, which Punk won.
As good as that final match was, a lot of fans remember their promos as well because that’s what made it feel like such a personal feud. During the March 25th, 2024 edition of Raw in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Drew McIntyre brought up that he was always The Chosen One. Punk replied: “Who chose you? What was his name? You got the balls to say you’re The Chosen One? What paragon of good virtue chose you?”
Punk was referring to former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who is no longer part of the company he built due to a damning sexual harassment lawsuit. That lawsuit led to WWE owners Endeavor forcing McMahon out of the company.
In an interview with Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes Magazine, Drew mentioned that he nearly took a personal shot at Punk by mentioning that McMahon fired Punk on his wedding day in 2014 just a few months after Punk walked out of the company.
“What’s going through my mind is: “The same person that fired you on your wedding day.” But I’m a professional. I think by that point, people started seeing what I was capable of on the microphone like it was a new thing.
If you watched my stuff outside of WWE, you know when I’m comfortable and the reins are taken off me. I don’t care who it is, I can go toe to toe with anyone. Even Punk.”
Drew McIntyre Chose To Be Professional During Heated Promo Battle With CM Punk
As he continued, Drew McIntyre went on to explain that CM Punk could tell that McIntyre had improved a lot as a talker.
“If you watch the first interview we had, the look in his eyes throughout the promo and how much it changed, you realise this is not the same kid that was an arse so many years ago. He was ready that night, I was ready that night and we went back and forth and back and forth, just hitting each other with these lines.
And again, this is not something that’s written on a piece of paper like you say this and I’ll say that. This is just two guys going for it, two guys that have got some banter, and two guys that genuinely don’t like each other in a place as hot as Chicago where Punk’s from.
That led to McIntyre explaining why he didn’t feel like referencing Vince McMahon even though he could have.
Then that one line, once we’d finally go back and forth so much, it was a choice for me to make. Do I go back and then we see where we end up? Or do I bite my tongue and say OK, this round belongs to you. I’ll be a professional. I’ll do it for the company as well as the de facto babyface, even though I’m really the real babyface of the situation. So I let him have it. For the company, not for him.”
CM Punk and Drew McIntyre will be in the ring together again at WWE Elimination Chamber on March 1st in Toronto. They’ll be joined in the Men’s Elimination Chamber match by John Cena, Damian Priest, Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Logan Paul.
You can watch the WWE Elimination Chamber when it streams live on Saturday, March 1, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, exclusively on Peacock in the United States and Netflix internationally.