Drew McIntyre may be back in the United States and back inside a wrestling ring to train, but WWE fans still shouldn’t start counting down to a surprise Claymore just yet. The former WWE Champion has now admitted that he misses wrestling after spending roughly five months away, but there’s still no timetable for when he’ll actually return to WWE television.
McIntyre has been gone since WrestleMania 42 while handling several projects outside WWE. Ringside News previously covered how McIntyre’s WWE absence was tied to his growing Hollywood schedule, with his movie work keeping him away from weekly television for months. His agent also made it clear that WWE remained McIntyre’s priority despite the outside acting work.
Things started looking a lot more interesting in August when McIntyre returned to the United States after wrapping up those commitments. At the time, however, there still weren’t any creative plans in place for his comeback, meaning being back on American soil didn’t automatically mean he was returning to WWE TV.
Now there’s another piece to the puzzle. During a Fightful Select Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp was asked if there was any timetable for McIntyre’s return. Sapp revealed that he actually saw McIntyre just days ago when Drew showed up at a Pro Wrestling Symphony event in Nashville. McIntyre apparently didn’t act like somebody enjoying an extended vacation either — he told Sapp that he misses wrestling and wished he could have been part of WWE’s recent South American tour. Sapp gave the full update:
“Well, I saw him like a few days ago. He quite literally pulled up in his pickup truck to the Nashville Pro Wrestling Symphony show that I wrestled on, and he said that he really missed wrestling and he really wished that he could have worked a South American tour. He said that he enjoyed those. He’s not really used to being off this long, but he’s been working on, like several movies since WrestleMania. It’s been been like five months that he’s been out now, but he’s still working out in the ring. He looks great, looks huge, talked about how a lot of the work that he’s been doing has been working on basically joint space in his body and stuff like that. But he didn’t give me a timetable or a return date or anything like that.”
That’s a pretty big update on where McIntyre is physically. He isn’t sitting at home waiting for WWE to call. Drew is still getting into the ring, keeping himself in shape and apparently using the time away to work on his body — specifically creating more joint space and getting himself physically ready for whatever comes next.
It also lines up with something fans already saw during his absence. McIntyre surfaced in the gym earlier this summer and immediately sparked return speculation, only for his agent to shut that down by explaining that Drew was still filming The Last Druid at the time. This time is different because those outside commitments have wrapped and McIntyre is now back in the United States for real.
The frustrating part for fans is that nothing in this latest update provides the one answer everybody actually wants. McIntyre didn’t give a return date, and there’s still no indication WWE has locked down exactly when his music will hit again.
What is clear is that McIntyre misses wrestling, he wanted to be on WWE’s South American tour, he’s still training in the ring and he’s physically preparing himself after one of the longest breaks of his career. WWE basically has a rested and apparently massive Drew McIntyre sitting there whenever creative decides it’s time to unleash him again.
When do you think WWE should bring Drew McIntyre back, and who should be waiting for him when he returns? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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