Drew McIntyre Accuses Cody Rhodes of Backstage Manipulation Ahead of WrestlePalooza Title Match

Drew McIntyre isn’t pulling any punches ahead of tonight’s WWE WrestlePalooza main event.

In a WWE interview promoting his Undisputed WWE Championship clash against Cody Rhodes, McIntyre unloaded some pointed accusations—claiming Rhodes plays politics backstage and comparing him to John Cena when it comes to manipulating the system. McIntyre started by calling Rhodes a flat-out liar, even using Cody’s own words as fuel.

“Let’s start with the liar thing – he said it himself, Cody Rhodes is a liar.”

McIntyre referenced Rhodes’ podcast, alleging that the American Nightmare openly admits to twisting the truth on a regular basis.

“Listen to his podcast, I know there’s a lot of content in WWE, but give it a listen. He’ll admit he lies all the time. He’s a liarbetic, he’s got liarbetes, he can’t help himself. So let’s move that one on.”

But the real fire came when McIntyre dug into what he sees as Rhodes’ backstage behavior—drawing a comparison to John Cena’s long-standing grip on the top spot in WWE.

“The manipulating aspect – we both have openly said we followed the John Cena approach. ‘Give it my all, sacrifice everything.’ I did. Cody did exactly the same, the big difference between both of us is that he learned to kiss ass just as good as Cena. He managed to cut off legs when people got anywhere close to him.”

McIntyre didn’t stop there. He claimed Rhodes is driven purely by self-interest, saying no one and nothing comes before the WWE Championship in Cody’s world.

“Cody Rhodes doesn’t care about anything else except that WWE Championship and himself, and everything else comes second.”

While McIntyre gears up for the main event tonight, John Cena is also set to appear at WrestlePalooza, battling Brock Lesnar in the opening match—a fitting bit of symmetry given the claims that both Cena and Rhodes use similar playbooks to stay on top.

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