Drew McIntyre addresses WWE Championship loss
Losing the Undisputed WWE Championship right before WrestleMania 42 was disappointing for Drew McIntyre, but he’s learned to trust that WWE creative always has a plan for him.
McIntyre dropped the WWE title to Cody Rhodes on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, setting the stage for Rhodes to defend the title against Randy Orton at WrestleMania. Outside of the championship picture for the time being, McIntyre will face off against Jacob Fatu in an unsanctioned match at the April 18-19 event.
During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, McIntyre said he appreciates that fans were disappointed on his behalf after the title loss. Though he sometimes has those same feelings, McIntyre has developed a good relationship with Paul “Triple H” Levesque and the key decision-makers in WWE creative. There are times where plans change, but they have never lied to him about his direction.
“The fans getting disappointed on my behalf, I appreciate it. And sometimes I am equally as personally disappointed,” McIntyre said. “And I hope to see the future and I do have personal conversations with those in charge and say my feelings. And I’m always told, ‘Drew, here’s what we’re thinking. Or, ‘Here’s what I’m thinking.’ We go this direction, I give my opinion, and it’s always — that’s where we’re going to go. And we have stuck on that path every time. I’ve been so particular about the journey and the character and the nuances, and I’ve not been lied to when it comes to the journey. Things change, that’s just the nature of it.”
McIntyre noted that he understands the bigger picture and why it makes sense for the WrestleMania card to have two big matches with Rhodes vs. Orton and himself vs. Fatu. He believes all of this is part of his character’s story, which will ultimately lead to a big babyface turn down the line.
“And the transitional [champion] thing, if people are saying it right now. I don’t believe that to be the case,” McIntyre said. “I think it’s another part of Drew McIntyre’s story. Personally, it sucks. I’d love to walk into Mania as champion with the title. And whatever might have been supposed to happen would have been very cool. But things happen in the bigger picture, as I’ve been talking about over and over. And as a company, as Mania for two days, we need all these big matches. We need surprises. And this gave us two giant matches. But for Drew McIntyre, you know, screwing over Cody, even though it was in a contract, even though it was justified, and it makes perfect sense to raise the story with Aldis. It makes perfect sense to set up the match with Jacob.
“Now we get this crazy match with Drew McIntyre [and] Jacob Fatu. We get people seeing like, ‘Drew was screwed. But at the same time, kind of deserved it, but did he really deserve it?’ And then Cody and Randy have got their match over there going on right now.
“So I appreciate the fans. If anything doesn’t work out, and I’m sitting there at one point just like, ‘Oh my God, no one cares and the story didn’t make sense and it sucks and I’m left in the lurch,’ then I’ll be the first one to point it out. But that’s not happened so far. And after the stuff I’ve been doing with Jacob, I know McIntyre is right back on track of where we need to be, which I believe inevitably is going to lead to a big babyface run down the line. But I’m not trying to get there any time soon.”
This was McIntyre’s fourth time holding a World Championship on the WWE main roster. His run lasted nearly two months from January-March 2026.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.