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Drew McIntyre Reveals Match That 'Traumatized' His Character

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Ryan Droste | Last updated May 1, 2025 7:05 PM ET

Drew McIntyre's character has undergone some seismic shifts since his days as the WWE Champion back in 2020.

In a new interview with High Performance, McIntyre explained how his loss at Clash At The Castle 2022 left his character "traumatized" with "PTSD."

On that night in Cardiff, Wales, McIntyre looked to have Roman Reigns defeated for the WWE Universal Championship. However, as was commonly the case during his championship reign, Reigns would go on to win due to interference from The Bloodline.

"My reaction to these guys (The Bloodline) suddenly getting cheered wasn't, we're good now, man, high fives, we're all good, guys, like it might have been five years ago," McIntyre explained. "It's, no, he's beat me up. Why are you people cheering?

"Because we like them though he took a holiday, and he does a cool hand thing...that's not a legitimate reason. He made my life hell. He screwed me over in the UK in front of 55,000 people out of the world title. That's why I hate him. I was like, 'Drew, just get over it.' I was like, get over it. I'm traumatized. I have PTSD. Those are real things. We implement those into storylines.

"That's how I started the process of becoming this bad guy. The same thing with CM Punk, these real emotions. The more that I take things to the finish line as a character, and I'm justified, but people don't like getting the truth pointed out constantly, and at the final hurdle, McIntyre will get egg on his face sometimes. If I just win and I win the title and I succeed, I'm kind of just right. That's kind of the end of the story.

"But the more I get tripped to the final hurdle, the more I can push forward with the story, the more gripes I have, the more truth I can tell in it makes things more interesting from a television perspective."

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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