Drew McIntyre: I Wish WWE Gave Me And Sheamus More Time To Tell Our Story

Drew McIntyre has discussed his lifelong friendship with Sheamus, revealing they both wished WWE had given them more time to tell their story on television.

Sheamus and McIntyre began referencing their friendship on RAW in late 2020 and ultimately led to the Celtic Warrior attacking the then-WWE Champion on the night after the 2021 Royal Rumble.

The duo would have three heavy hitting singles matches, two on Raw, before the final one at WWE FastLane - a No Holds Barred Match.

Sheamus said on the WWE Documentary about Fastlane that he felt their match, and the rivalry as a whole, should have gone all the way to WrestleMania 37, and McIntyre agrees with the sentiment that the two should have had longer to tell their unique story.

Speaking to Busted Open Radio, he said: "I've known Sheamus forever. He's my oldest friend in wrestling. I met him when I was 19 and he was only about 42 at the time [laughs]. It was very clear from the beginning that we had similar goals and weren't just content. We were going to be the guys who go to WWE.

"We started helping each other any way we could. I was a lot smaller at the time and he was the biggest guy in Europe. He helped me work out and how to train and diet right. I was a lot more experienced in wrestling so I'd help him in-ring. We started working together in Europe, wherever we could get our reps in.

"Eventually, we got signed together, came to America together, ended up in FCW together and still chasing the dream. The night I won the Intercontinental Title, he won the World Title. We were both sitting there like, 'What is going on with life?' He was there for the good times and bad times. I wouldn't get through a lot of them without him being there for me. He's always been such a big brother for me. To come back to the company and get that moment with the title and him being there.

"Finally, after 20 years, we got a chance to put our story on television. We wish we had more time to tell the story that we would've liked to tell, but things move so fast and we got the opportunity to tell it anyway and we were grateful for that. We knew through our work we'd catch people's attention. No one is going to be more physical than Drew McIntyre and Sheamus.

"We got to have fun together in the ring. The best part was before the pay-per-view match, they played that video detailing our history. Both of us saw it before the match and it was pretty emotional right before we walked to the ring. We said right before, 'We'll say sorry after.' We beat the living hell out of each other, said sorry after, laughed about it, and we're excited to do something together again."

Both men proudly displayed their scars and bruises on social media following their respective matches, and McIntyre says the physical nature of how they compete gets both of them even more fired up.

McIntyre added: "Right at the beginning of our last pay-per-view match, he punches me and catches me in the side of the head. I almost lost my legs for a second, I saw black spots. I caught my feet, looked up, and under my breath said, 'You almost knocked me out you son of a b*tch.' It fired me up. I love it, he loves it, it's the way we wrestle.

"If you watch a Sheamus match, you can tell at the beginning, as soon as Sheamus hits you with one of those slaps, something goes off in the performer and they start bringing that physicality they've never brought out before. If they don't, they get eaten alive and that's when you find out what you're made of. If you bring it, he'll bring it, and then after you go 'wow, that was a great match.'"

H/T Fightful