Drew McIntyre On A Possible Match Against The Rock, The Unforgettable WrestleMania 36 Event
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre spoke with Mark Hendry of The Glasgow Times this week and said he'd love to face The Rock.
McIntyre recalled how Rock once endorsed him during a TMZ interview. He also looked back to when the former WWE Champion went with Dolph Ziggler ahead of one of Drew's recent matches with Ziggler. Drew said his "phone exploded" after calling Rock out on Twitter. He also said his dream match with The Great One would take place at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.
"The Rock is the best, one of the nicest guys in the world and he deserves all his success," McIntyre said. "There was a time I was doing nothing, really, and TMZ asked him who he thought was the next breakout star. And he picked me, which really inspired me and fired me up. I appreciated that and it gave me motivation. Then to see WWE posted an image of Dolph Ziggler with the title, and Rock backed him up! That hurt my one feeling I've got left.
"I thought, 'What would Rock do in this situation?' If this was 1998/99, what would he say? I thought, screw it. I'm the champion, I don't back down to anyone, even The Rock. My phone exploded. I'd love to face The Rock anywhere, but if there was one place on earth it would be a WrestleMania at Ibrox. That would be great for personal reasons. It would probably have to be Hampden, we'd need somewhere massive. If he chose to come back for a match, as the biggest Box Office attraction in the world, wow. Come on, Rock, give me that match."
McIntyre won the WWE Title from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 earlier this year. The match took place with no fans in the crowd due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was taped at the WWE Performance Center. McIntyre talked about how this year's WrestleMania was still memorable, for better or worse.
"It's not what I imagined or what I dreamt of," Drew said of the big title win at WrestleMania 36. "It was supposed to be at Raymond James Stadium in front of 80,000 people, literally 20 minutes from my home [in Florida]. The main event against Brock Lesnar for the WWE title, it couldn't have been any more perfect. Then the pandemic hit and I went through all the emotions possible.
"It's when I started watching the news and speaking to people about it that I understood how severe the situation was. The fact we were pushing ahead with WrestleMania during difficult times, it changed my mindset. I went from disappointment to thinking I was being a bit selfish. That I could make people smile, it was really big and a feel good story, so it took on a whole new meaning to me. Nobody will forget the WrestleMania when the world stood still."