Former WWE Champion seemingly confirms original plans to face Sheamus at WrestleMania
Sheamus found a career resurgence late in his WWE run. In early 2021, he was embroiled in a tense rivalry with his real-life friend on SmackDown—Drew McIntyre.
The two fought tooth and nail on various shows and ultimately got booked for Fastlane that year before the Scotsman went on to face then-WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 37. Two years later, McIntyre and Sheamus got to tussle on the grand stage in Los Angeles, California, in an Intercontinental Championship Match also featuring Gunther.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Drew McIntyre looked back fondly on the Triple Threat title contest. He noted how good it felt to finally realize a dream both he and the Irishman had to face each other at the Showcase of the Immortals. Despite it not being a one-on-one match, which "should have" happened at WrestleMania before, McIntyre says he is proud of what they were able to accomplish:
"That was cool. And the story for the match was cool as well, because eventually Gunther disappeared for a while, and Sheamus and I have always dreamed about our one-on-one match at WrestleMania. And we went back and forth for 10 straight minutes, claymores and brogues and hitting our bombs. It was like we're having that singles match. We forgot about Gunther, and at the right moment, he just reappears. Boom, steals it, heads out. So that was cool as well that Sheamus and I kind of got a one-on-one match at Mania we should have had the year prior." [H/T: Chris Van Vliet]
At WrestleMania 38, Drew McIntyre ended his months-long rivalry with Baron Corbin, defeating the latter in a singles contest. Later that year, he challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in Cardiff, Wales.
Drew McIntyre expresses disappointment with his WWE Clash at the Castle losses in 2022, 2024
Drew McIntyre headlined both editions of WWE Clash at the Castle. In September 2022, he failed to dethrone The Tribal Chief thanks to a timely interference by the debuting Solo Sikoa.
He recalled that WWE convinced him Roman Reigns was the bigger project that had to be realized at the time. But McIntyre feels, with the benefit of hindsight, that it could have been different. Austin Theory was Mr. Money in the Bank at the time, and the Scotsman stated that the creative team could have easily booked him to pin Theory after the latter cashed in during the bout:
"We should have found a way out of this. Theory could have cashed in, and I could have pinned him because we had to protect The Bloodline and Roman at that time, that's the top story in the company, the top character. And perhaps at that time, I was like, I just feel this is a bad move. [H/T: Chris Van Vliet]
Unfortunately for Drew McIntyre, he suffered yet another loss in the second edition of Clash at the Castle in June 2024. He failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event from Damian Priest owing to CM Punk's shenanigans.