CM Punk made it into the final two during last month's Royal Rumble match, but suffered a torn tricep after taking Drew McIntyre's Future Shock DDT. As a result, WWE was forced to scrap plans for the Best in the World to headline WrestleMania in a bout with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.
When Punk came out on RAW to address his injury, he was confronted by McIntyre who revealed that he'd prayed for the Second City Saint's downfall. He's since made it clear that he's taking Punk's place on the Road to WrestleMania and has since had a t-shirt commissioned mocking his foe's injury.
During a recent interview, McIntyre addressed the controversial promo and what his character's motivations were heading into the heated exchange.
"When it comes to the injury and how I felt about him coming into the company leap-frogging Superstars, trying to take their spot at WrestleMania, specifically my spot at WrestleMania, I was never going to let it happen. Itook him out and I wanted to let him know that I prayed for this, and it happened."
"The way people reacted, it was like a delayed reaction, like 'Oh my God, did you just say that?' I can feel it in the arena. Then the next line I think I said was [that] after the Rumble, when I got eliminated by him, I couldn't sleep. I'd let myself down, I'd let the world down. Not winning that Rumble, but more specifically getting eliminated by Punk, then the next day I found out that he'd torn his tricep off the bone, and that night I slept like a baby."
"Then [I] headed into 'Raw' with a big smile on my face, then attacked him and stomped his tricep and chucked him back out the door, and said 'Right. Where were we? Oh yeah, me main eventing WrestleMania."
This was an in-character interview and McIntyre later made it clear that, despite his harsh words on screen, he'd never truly wish an injury on someone.
While rumours continue to swirl about the former WWE Champion's future (it's thought that he still hasn't signed a new deal), he's on a phenomenal run in the company and his promos - which blur the lines between fantasy and reality - are a must-watch ever week.
McIntyre will compete in the Elimination Chamber in a bid to challenge Rollins at WrestleMania. You can watch the full interview with him in the player below.