Drew McIntyre Says Heath Slater Was Originally Against The Idea Of Returning To RAW This Week

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre recently spoke with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT and revealed that he had to talk former WWE Superstar Heath Slater into appearing for this week's RAW.

Monday's RAW saw Dolph Ziggler bring Slater back for a segment that saw Slater talk about how McIntyre hasn't been there for him since his WWE release in April. This led to Slater requesting an opportunity from McIntyre, but the match ended in just a few seconds with McIntyre getting the squash win over his friend. McIntyre then saved Slater from a post-match attack by Ziggler, and the segment ended with the former 3MB partners embracing and standing tall together.

Drew revealed to talkSPORT that he was behind the segment with Slater, but it wasn't easy to pull off as Slater was against the idea at first.

"The moment at the end was very special and I was very much pushing for that idea to happen," McIntyre said. "I think I saw something on the internet saying I was behind it and I'm thinking how are they getting this information?! But yeah, I played a big part in making it happen and to be honest, Heath was a little bit against it and I spoke to my wife right before the phone call I made to Heath to try and convince him to come onto the show for the segment. She reminded me how I felt at the time when I was released and sure enough, he felt the same.

McIntyre added that Slater has mentally moved on from WWE. McIntyre praised Slater for "killing it" on RAW

"He appreciated the opportunity with WWE, it was where he had made his name, but mentally he has moved on," McIntyre continued. "He's ready for the next stage and he's not sure about going backwards, so I made it clear to him like, 'Trust me, this isn't going to be like anything you've done.'

"The first thing I did outside of WWE was ICW and I showed my real personality and it caused a buzz and went viral on the underground, but if you get the chance to show your real personality on RAW that's going to set you on the right course. I know he's been working out hard, so people will get to see what he looks like now and it also advances our story ? everybody wins. We finally got him on board and got him on the show ? he absolutely killed it, like I knew he would."

There was some social media criticism over the segment with some saying it wasn't fit for the #1 babyface on the brand. McIntyre acknowledged that this wasn't a segment that made him look like the top babyface that he really is, but he thinks it was important and it added an interesting layer to his character, and the storyline with Ziggler for their upcoming match at WWE's "The Horror Show at Extreme Rules" pay-per-view.

"It really helped mine and Dolph's storyline," Drew said. "I know, obviously, I'm supposed to be a top good guy so it's not ideal in a lot of eyes to put it out there that I've been a bad friend. But, the way I look at it with my character is, especially given the environment we're in, we can tell a more complex story. In an arena, I'd have been booed to pieces for being such a terrible friend, but in this environment I think it's important to show my character is flawed, because I am.

"Like [John] Cena is Superman and Roman can be bulletproof a lot of the time, but I think Drew McIntyre is Drew Galloway. I am a flawed person and Dolph tried to put me in a difficult situation, showing maybe I haven't been as attentive to my friend as I should have been in front of the world. That shows I'm a human being, you saw it in my face. You saw Drew Galloway."

He continued, "Then it's like, 'I feel really bad here. I'll give you what you want,' and at the end we reunited, we overcame Dolph and I think it's important for my character to show those flaws. It allows us to be different and tell stories with more layers and depth in this environment, and that's the environment we're in right now ? but Heath killed it more importantly!"

Slater has been gone from WWE since being released on April 15 as a part of the company-wide cuts brought on by COVID-19. He is rumored to sign with Impact Wrestling after his 90-day non-compete clause expires on July 15, but that has not been confirmed. McIntyre will defend his title against Ziggler on July 19 at the pay-per-view, and is rumored to then defend against Randy Orton at SummerSlam in late August.