Top WWE Star Reportedly Taking Time Off After Loss At Saturday Night's Main Event
The feud between Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest reached a dramatic peak when the latter defeated the former in a Steel Cage Match at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. This came after Priest laid out McIntyre with a South of Heaven chokeslam, then placed McIntyre between two steel chairs for a subsequent Con-Chair-To, thus allowing the former Judgment Day member to easily escape the cage. In the aftermath, medical officials offered a stretcher to transport McIntyre to the backstage area, but the Scotsman refused and instead walked to the back with some of their help.
Looking ahead, McIntyre will reportedly be off WWE television for the foreseeable future, per Fightful Select and PWI Elite. As of now, the time frame for McIntyre's return is unknown, but both outlets noted that he had been working while hurt for a while. A source of Fightful's added that his time off was contractual as well.
On the road to WrestleMania 41, McIntyre encountered a string of physical issues, beginning with built-up fluid in his knee that doctors drained right before he wrestled on "WWE SmackDown." Shortly after that, Priest sent McIntyre crashing through a windshield on WWE's blue brand, which caused debris to fly up and land in McIntyre's eye. Another brawl with Priest left McIntyre with a bloody gash on his head, seemingly the same one opened during his 2024 Hell in a Cell match with CM Punk.
At WrestleMania 41, McIntyre defeated Priest in a Sin City Street Fight. The two then met again at WWE Backlash, this time in a fatal-four-way for the WWE United States Championship. At one point, McIntyre and Priest ventured into the crowd, with Priest sending his foe crashing through a pair of tables, courtesy of a chokeslam. While doctors ruled that McIntyre was okay after his head bounced off the floor upon impact, "The Scottish Warrior" confirmed (via Orlando Sentinel) that he still couldn't turn his head all the way to the left, just days before WWE SNME.