In recent years, much has been said about Drew McIntyre's WWE future. He signed a new deal with the company in 2024 that's expected to keep him around until at least 2028. However, there had been some chatter about the Scottish Warrior being creatively unfulfilled.
This year, he's won the Undisputed WWE Championship, only to drop the title back to Cody Rhodes when the company changed its WrestleMania plans. Now, McIntyre will face Jacob Fatu, despite him once looking like a lock for the main event.
His clash with Fatu is still one of the most highly anticipated matches on the card, but how does the SmackDown Superstar feel about where he's now at in WWE?
"Very creatively fulfilled," he told Chris Van Vliet. "There were a couple of moments where I was like, damn, it sucks personally, but I can also look at the big picture these days. I’ve been knocked down enough times and fed a few disappointments sometimes, where I didn’t always deal with it the right way for the bigger picture and understanding, okay, the company needs this right now."
"How does this screw me up? It doesn’t really. It actually works for the character, and as long as it works for the character, I can be personally disappointed," McIntyre continued, "but professionally, I know we’re still on the right track, and the fans are still going to be emotionally invested, and that’s all that matters, because I’ve been in situations where they were not emotionally invested. And the worst thing in the world in pro wrestling is silence."
We've seen a lot of Superstars hang up their wrestling boots over the past year or so, including John Cena and AJ Styles. McIntyre turned 40 last year and told Van Vliet that he's not having any thoughts of retirement right now.
"I mean, I know my wife feels like it’s gonna be a lot shorter than I probably feel it’s going to be, especially with how I feel now and how creatively fulfilled I feel these days. But as long as I’m happy, as long as she’s happy, and as long as the fans are happy with what I’m doing, I don’t see any reason to slow down anytime soon."
"I see guys getting up there in age right now and moving as well as they’re moving right now, because we’ve just moved so far forward with athletes," he added. "Look at LeBron James or Ronaldo, for example, the same age as me, and they’re just still at the top of their game."
You can check out the full interview with McIntyre in the video below.