It’s evident pretty quickly that Drew McIntyre is a confident bloke, and with good reason. He’s accomplished a lot in less than a year in WWE. So when he makes a bold prediction for the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on Sunday, it’s worthwhile to listen.
The Scotsman, McIntyre, is one of eight men competing in the Smackdown Money in the Bank match for the chance to claim a briefcase assuring a title shot against one of the world champions. The others are The Big Show, Matt Hardy, Christian, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Kane, and Dolph Ziggler.
The Raw crew will have an identical Money in the Bank match, and it features Edge, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Chris Jericho, Evan Bourne, The Miz, John Morrison, and Ted DiBiase.
To the 25-year-old McIntyre, there is no doubt which roster will put on a better performance.
“I think our match is going to surpass the Raw match,” he predicted to SLAM! Wrestling, on the phone from Spanish Fort, Alabama. “They’ve got some incredible athletes in there, like Evan Bourne, John Morrison and all Edge can do in ladder matches. They’ve got some guys that can really put on some spectacular stuff. But I’m going to say it right now: I guarantee the Smackdown main event ladder match will top the Raw main event ladder match, and the Raw match is going to be spectacular, so ours is going to be ridiculously over-the-top spectacular.”
He broke down the competitors in the Smackdown MITB bout.
“There’s a couple of giants. Kane, who’s absolutely been on the warpath these days. Then there’s The Big Show, who is just ridiculous in size. Then you’ve got Kofi Kingston, who I’ve had issues with lately, Matt Hardy, who I’ve had a lot of issues with recently, and Christian, who I have a match with on Smackdown this week, which is going to be spectacular,” he explained, pausing to be reminded who else was in the match. “Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes with his new entrance, it’s amusing.”
Having unsuccessfully participated in the MITB bout at WrestleMania 26, he has a new plan.
“With that bunch in the match, it’s going to be absolutely ridiculous. My match strategy is going to be, hang back, let them knock themselves out with the ladder, then climb up the ladder and get the briefcase. I learned at the last Wrestlemania not to try and go gung-ho, or you end up being crotched from a 15-foot ladder.”
Though he can’t guarantee he’s going to win the MITB showdown, he explained his mindset. “In my mind, I’m always going to win. I’m very, very confident that I’m going to take this one.”
The World Heavyweight Championship, which has its home on Smackdown, will be on the line as the champion, Rey Mysterio faces the former champ, Jack Swagger. McIntyre dismissed any concern over who wins.
“It doesn’t matter to me. The joy of the briefcase is whomever is the champion, I’m just going to pick my spot. Yesterday it was, I just sat and thought that it was August the 28th that I debuted. Sunday is July 18. When I win, that’ll give me just over a month to cash in the briefcase … my goal is to become champion within a year. So that would complete my perfect year.”
In conversation, McIntyre may be self-assured, but he’s not arrogant or condescending. He considers the questions asked and gives honest, forthright answers in his charming Scottish brogue — most of the time.
He sighed and chuckled when the recent immigration issue was raised, where he was not able to work in the United States until some paperwork was cleared up.
“It was upcoming. There was a process that had to be done, and a way it had to be done. It had to be done when it had to be done,” he said. “I was always aware of the process that had to be done. It was blown out of proportion by so many people. … It was last-second, pretty much. What you saw on TV was exactly the truth. It had to be done at that time.”
When asked about his May 2010 marriage to Taryn Terrel, who is WWE Diva Tiffany, McIntyre paused, took a deep breath, and said that his life has changed that much.
“Well, I don’t want to get into that much, but it’s pretty much the same,” he said.
There wasn’t much that he would share, other than confirming that it took place in Las Vegas.
“I’ve not really told anybody anything, except my parents. But I can tell you that Elvis was not there and the world will never know,” he said with a laugh.
After answering a reporter’s questions for 20 minutes, McIntyre has no trouble with one last sign-off boast.
“The Money in the Bank itself, I want to get this out there. … I always get blown away by the ticket prices, because they’re not a lot more than when I was a kid. But I guarantee with the kind of matches that we’re putting on this show, I didn’t realize that every other match, except the two ladder matches, which will be insane matches, tight matches as well. I’m Drew McIntyre, and I guarantee that anybody that buys a ticket and comes to the show and is not 100% satisfied, and don’t think it’s the greatest show they’ve ever seen in their life, ask security, ask for Drew McIntyre, and I will give them back their money myself, because that’s how sure I am it’ll be an amazing pay-per-view. The entire card is, ‘Oh my God.'”
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Greg Oliver has been to Scotland, eaten haggis, and stormed some castles, but didn’t see any wrestling (on purpose). He can be emailed at goliver845@gmail.com.
