WWE is considering a shift in plans for Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 41.
In the 2025 Royal Rumble, Drew McIntyre entered at number 17 and lasted nearly 30 minutes before being abruptly eliminated by Damian Priest. Reports soon emerged that McIntyre stormed backstage after the elimination as things hadn’t gone to plan, and the news indicated that he was upset with LA Knight at the time.
In a report about McIntyre’s real life backstage frustrations, The Daily Mail also reported that the Scottish star was set to face Priest at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, hence the Royal Rumble elimination. A source told The Daily Mail that it was considered a “nothing match,” and fans online seem to agree, with many insisting that McIntyre should be set for something more interesting on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
According to a new report from Dr. Chris Featherstone, WWE is aware of the backlash and is considering a change to plans for McIntyre. Featherstone wrote on social media:
Sources within WWE have informed me that the online backlash of Drew McIntyre’s potential WrestleMania opponent has opened up internal discussions to reevaluate current plans.
Sources within WWE have informed me that the online backlash of Drew McIntyre's potential WrestleMania opponent has opened up internal discussions to reevaluate current plans. pic.twitter.com/iyi9zoHlKW
— Dr. Chris Featherstone, Ph.D. (@chrisprolific) February 11, 2025
Drew McIntyre Wasn’t The Only Person Frustrated With LA Knight In The Royal Rumble
Discussing the McIntyre situation on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that McIntyre should have been eliminated from the Royal Rumble earlier than he was, and that multiple people were frustrated with LA Knight in the match:
“The main issue was not the elimination where LA Knight did get in the way of Damian Priest as he was throwing Drew McIntyre over the top rope. I saw that and I thought that’s the spot. I have found out that it was earlier that was the [problem].
He was very loudly hot about it, it was not a secret or anything like that. It’s not an angle. It was basically exactly how it was reported, the feeling was LA Knight was doing stuff that was not planned in the match, that’s the claim and it got in the way of things that were supposed to happen including his actual elimination, when it was supposed to happen. Then it got in the way of his later elimination, it was actually supposed to happen earlier. And it took some time to get back in position for the elimination so the second elimination was not the planned elimination.
It wasn’t like one person was mad, it was a number of people. But [McIntyre] was loud when he got back to the dressing room about it.” (h/t TJR Wrestling)
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