Drew McIntyre says he’s ‘never seen’ Randy Orton ‘so happy’ ahead of WrestleMania Backlash

Drew McIntyre is in pleasant company at WrestleMania Backlash. McIntyre will team with RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) to face Roman Reigns and The Usos at WrestleMania Backlash at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island on Sunday, May 8.

RK-Bro and The Usos have presented one of the better tag team feuds in WWE history. Riddle and The Usos have exhibited great chemistry in between the ropes and Orton, in particular, has spoken with conviction on the microphone. The oddball pairing of Orton and Riddle was an unexpected hit with both fans and the tandem themselves. McIntyre and Orton have been colleagues on and off for 15 years, but McIntyre has never seen Orton like this.

“It’s awesome to be back around,” McIntyre told CBS Sports. “Roman Reigns and The Bloodline have been doing incredible things for a couple of years. Literally running the industry when it comes to Roman and for McIntyre to step back into that picture, but also to be side-by-side with Randy and Riddle who have been having the time of their life this past year, I’ve never seen Randy so happy in the ring and out of the ring.

“It’s cool to be involved in that picture. The tag title scene has been so interesting with those two tag teams going at it. With the addition of myself and Roman, you get an interesting dynamic and you get to delay that match. I know everyone wants everything right now. Now you get an interesting wrinkle to the equation and then you get to delay that match that’s going to then build even more anticipation and when it happens, maybe even in a stadium or somewhere else down the line with more elements added to the story, if you finally get that match — I assume that will eventually happen — it’ll be an even bigger deal.”

Check out the full interview with Drew McIntyre below.

McIntyre and Reigns’ last major feud culminated in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series in 2020, the site of The Undertaker’s retirement. McIntyre entered the non-title match as WWE champion but was submitted by Reigns after interference by Jey Uso. Coming off a midcard feud with Happy Corbin, McIntyre re-enters the title picture with quiet confidence.

“I was feeling pretty confident in who I was the last time we fought in each other, but maybe still a little tense at times. Thinking a little too much about things before the matches instead of just being,” McIntyre said. “My mind was still going instead of doing everything naturally. I would do most things naturally and overthink a couple of things. These days, I just do what feels right. I go with my gut. It helps when the live crowd is there to get that real-time feedback to know what is the right way to go. Right now, I feel as confident as I did then [and] 100 times more confident. Also, taking that slow burn route rather than jumping in there with Roman as soon as I was drafted to SmackDown. It allowed the crowd to be reintroduced to Drew McIntyre and take time to build that rapport with the crowd. “

McIntyre and his fellow WWE superstars recently took part in a European tour. A viral video made the rounds online after the ring ropes faltered under the weight and momentum of McIntyre in Newcastle. McIntyre and Bobby Lashley each hit the ropes. McIntyre collided with the ring a moment sooner causing the ropes to snap. Lashley was a moment behind and was flung outside of the ring as the ropes fell to the floor.

“For me, it was very quick yet very slow at the same time,” McIntyre said. “When trouble happens, things seem to slow down for me and I’m very aware of what’s going on. I knew when I hit the ropes, something went wrong. I was able to catch myself very quickly and was watching straight ahead and saw how Lashley went over. So, the rope broke as I connected. He was a split second behind me. He had no rope. He went into what should have been the top rope and he continued head over heels at the speed he was going.

“Thankfully, I could see how he landed. He went head over heels. Those giant traps hit the ring apron. His head didn’t connect with the ring apron, thankfully. He flipped himself right around onto the mat outside. I could see he was probably going to be OK. Knowing him, he’d be OK.”