Drew McIntyre and CM Punk were seen standing next to each other in a recent picture ahead of a Raw taping, and McIntyre shared his thoughts on the pic. The two are in the midst of a heated feud that will culminate at WWE Bad Blood in a Hell in a Cell match, a rivalry that has had real-life hostilities teased. The photo had fans wondering how much of the hatred is storyline and how much is real, something McIntyre weighed in on in an interview with Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital.
“You can feel the tension,” McIntyre said. “Everyone could feel the tension when him and I are near each other. We have to be professionals and do our job. We understand, we’ve been doing this a long time, that real personal issues, real hatred draws money. We also know when that bell rings, we can really lean into each other. None of us are going to complain and when we’re on the microphone, we can see how we feel. Both of us have thick skin unlike a lot of our superstars – they want to cry whenever I tweet about them. I do appreciate that about them. But you can feel the tension when we’re around.”
He continued, “I remember there was some picture that came out online recently, and it was the big talk of the internet because Punk and I were close to each other during the day and it was, ‘Oh my God they really don’t dislike each other.’ I was like yeah you frickin’ idiots. You don’t go to your office job and have to stand beside the guy you don’t like in your office occasionally just because someone snapped a picture of that moment because we’re dealing with a situation you have to deal with in your profession even if you can’t stand the p—k.”
WWE Bad Blood airs tomorrow night live on Peacock and WWE Network.