Drew McIntyre Ready to Dance with CM Punk on the Devil's Playground [Exclusive]

McIntyre on rivalry with Punk: "We lifted each other up. No matter how we feel about each other."

Drew McIntyre talks about CM Punk, Hell in a Cell and more with The Takedown on SI! / wwe.com

Drew McIntyre has often compared his promo exchange with CM Punk and Seth Rollins ahead of WrestleMania XL to that of the shootout at the O.K. Corral. A crossfire of verbal assaults between heated rivals that will live on in the memories of wrestling fans for years to come.

The 1881 Arizona gun battle between legendary lawmen and a gang of cattle rustlers dubbed the cowboys is an even more appropriate analogy several months later, as the hatred between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk has far exceeded it's boiling point.

After falling victim to a heinous assault that ended with the broken beads of his beloved bracelet swishing around in his bloody mouth, CM Punk put in a call to Raw GM Adam Pearce to issue a challenge on his behalf.

Punk was more than willing to test McIntyre's mettle by stepping back into a structure that he himself had not been inside in more than a decade. A structure that Drew McIntyre had no desire to ever fight inside again.

No matter what happens this Saturday night at Bad Blood, this long chapter of their rivalry is coming to an end. And it's coming to an end inside Hell in a Cell.

“As I said this past Monday, I wasn't lying. I never lie these days," McIntyre told The Takedown. "That cell has broken things in me that never have been fixed.”

The prospect of tormenting and torturing CM Punk beyond all recognition, however, was as good a reason as any for the Scottish Warrior to be his huckleberry.

Growing up an avid wrestling fan in Ayr, Scotland, McIntyre remembers watching Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker compete in the first Hell in a Cell Match, which happened 27 years ago this Saturday at Bad Blood: In Your House.

Just 12-years-old at the time, Drew began to dream of one day being able to follow in their footsteps. Those dreams were only amplified the following summer when The Undertaker and Mankind created the single most iconic moment in Hell in a Cell history.

Just minutes into their match, the Deadman shoved Mick Foley off the top of the cage. He fell 16 feet through the air before crashing through the Spanish announce table on the floor below.

"When I saw Foley get thrown off the top, I was like, 'Wow. One day I'll take the bump off the top of the cell.'" McIntyre said. "As I got a little older, I accepted the facts that I was terrified of heights. I thought, 'I'm never ever gonna do anything that ridiculous.' As I got more into wrestling and realized how much things actually hurt, specifically cages and weapons, I thought, 'Man, I really want to avoid Hell in a Cell at all costs.' So my childhood dream turned to my adult nightmare."

McIntyre's nightmare would become a reality on October 25, 2020 when he unsuccessfully defended his WWE Championship against Randy Orton at Hell in Cell. An ill-fated PLE concept centered around multiple Hell in a Cell matches taking place in one evening.

The modern version of Hell in a Cell is slightly more robust, standing four feet taller than the original structure. Fear of heights be damned, McIntyre lived the boyhood dream - so to speak - when Orton tossed him off the side of the cage during their match. It was a roughly 10-11 foot drop, even more if McIntyre's height is added into the equation, before he slammed back first through the commentary desk.

"I thought I legitimately broke my neck and broke something in my back. I bit through my tongue," McIntyre said. "I was spitting up blood, which we actually incorporated into the match. It was a cool visual."

What a price to pay for a visual. McIntyre says his tongue was split after that fall. Looking not all that dissimilar from a snake you would find in the wild. Fittingly enough it happened in a match with a man who calls himself the Viper.

"Legitimately the worst fall of my life," McIntyre said. "I've had these conversations with some of the other guys, like Seth Rollins. If we could both take back one thing in our career, it would be falling off [Hell in a Cell]. Never mind the stuff that happened inside the cell."

Not even a year later, McIntyre would be forced back inside Hell in a Cell. This time as a challenger for the WWE Championship when he squared off against Bobby Lashley. For the second time in eight months, McIntyre would leave the demonic cage with nothing more than the battle scars he accumulated over 25 grueling minutes.

That particular match with Lashley is one that Drew will openly admit, probably, didn't need to be inside of the cell. It was, however, due to the novelty of the Premium Live Event where it was booked.

It's a much different story this time around as McIntyre prepares to dance in the Devil's playground. Desperate enough to finally move on from the last agonizing 10 months of his career, McIntyre has agreed to step inside Hell in the Cell for the third time and he won't be coming alone. No sir. Hell's coming with him.

“Everybody's watched the story unfold. They know we legitimately don't like each other. They've seen how hard we've been hitting each other in the couple of matches we've had at SummerSlam and the Strap Match. With Hell in the Cell, he knows it and I know it, we're professional enough to go in there and do our job, but… we're gonna beat the s— out of each other.”

The former World Heavyweight Champion has promised to make Punk bleed... a lot. He's promised to leave him battered and permanently broken. Whether those words prove to be hyperbole or not, the end result is unlikely to be hindered by them.

This match is going to deliver, because despite their detestation outside of the ring, Drew McIntyre and CM Punk bring out the best in each other once the camera is rolling.

“No matter what I feel about him personally. I know how good he is, especially when it comes to storytelling," McIntyre said. "I knew there was magic there and it took a simple Future Shock DDT tearing his weak little triceps off the bone to get it going.”

Oh my god look at that inbred, flea ridden pos 😂😂😂 Larry looks stupid as well. https://t.co/FP5PMptAfL

— Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) September 28, 2024

It's a rivalry both men needed, and frankly, one the fans deserved. It was the perfect springboard for Punk to prove he's still the guy worthy of being called the 'Best in the World'. It's also presented McIntyre with the golden opportunity to show everyone, especially Punk, that he's not yet reached his ceiling as a performer in WWE.

“I am glad to see that he can still compete at the top, top level. 'Cause I can assure you, I would have eaten him alive. In the ring and on the microphone,” McIntyre said. “He's helped lift me up, but at the same time I like to think I've helped lift him up. Find his confidence. Find who CM Punk needs to be.”

Over the last several months Punk has often referred to himself as Satan incarnate, dating all the way back to his first promo exchange with McIntyre on the January 8 episode of Monday Night Raw. A possibly unintended foreshadowing of where these two men would wind up if they were to travel down this path together.

That night Drew said far worse about his opponent this Saturday than Punk may have been ready to hear. Calling him, amongst other things, a self-serving narcissistic succubus.

“I think he was shocked when I started talking. He literally said, ‘You're not known for your talking.’ I was so offended. I went off. During the promo I could see in his eyes, ‘Crap, this is not the same kid that I was d— to back in the day.”

Weeks later these two would spar again in the aforementioned O.K. Corral promo with Seth Rollins. McIntyre with a front row seat as Punk delivered a master class in trash talking in front of his hometown Chicago crowd. McIntyre says he saw the real CM Punk that night. He saw him again two weeks ago when Punk said Drew would have to end his life to beat him inside Hell in a Cell.

That’s the CM Punk I want. pic.twitter.com/x3LAjIJi3x

— Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) September 17, 2024

“There it is. That’s CM Punk right there,” McIntyre thought to himself in real time. “Through this journey, as I’ve said, we've both lifted each other up. As much as he likes to take credit, ‘Oh, I made you relevant.’ I’m like, come on man (laughs). You came back, walked right into a giant match and I brought CM Punk back. We lifted each other up. No matter how we feel about each other.”

Whether he ultimately gets his hand raised Saturday or not, McIntyre says his rivalry with Punk will never truly be over. This chapter of it coming to close, however, will be both strange and exciting for the Scottish Warrior.

Knowing the way the company operates now under the creative direction of Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, McIntyre knows he'll have the freedom to seek the truth in the next story he gets to tell. Even though it may be impossible to top his body of work over the past 10 months.

“Whatever I do next, I've already told [WWE creative] you’re not gonna find something like this, because this is legitimate hatred, but I better have something I can buy into. That's based in truth. That I can really have fun with, because you see what can happen if you give me something I truly believe in.”

Bad Blood has a special start time this Saturday. The show goes live from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia at 6PM ET / 5PM CT on Peacock.

You can follow Rick Ucchino on X and on Instagram: @RickUcchino

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