Drew McIntyre is a strong candidate to face Seth Rollins at WWE WrestleMania 40. (Credit: FAYEZ ... [+]
WWE is still working on a long-term deal with Drew McIntyre, but the former two-time world champion is staying put through at least WrestleMania 40.
According to a report from Fightful Select (h/t SEScoops), WWE has added injury time to McIntyre’s current contract, which will now extend beyond its flagship pay-per-view: “Fightful Select has confirmed that McIntyre’s deal now extends past WrestleMania, and that some injury and inactivity time was added to the deal in order to get it there.”
McIntyre’s WWE contract was originally set to expire in early 2024 prior to WrestleMania 40, but the former two-time world champion missed several months of action in 2023 following WrestleMania 39, prompting the extension of his deal. It is typical of WWE to extend superstar contracts in similar scenarios, especially those of high-profile stars like McIntyre.
And McIntyre isn’t the only marquee WWE star with an expiring deal, which is what makes his scenario such an intriguing one.
Among the top WWE stars whose deals are set to run out soon are Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, who will see their contracts expire at some point after WrestleMania 40. That puts WWE in quite the pickle because Rollins, Lynch and McIntyre are three of the biggest stars on Monday Night Raw and all seem to be headed for significant WrestleMania matches.
At WWE’s biggest pay-per-view, Rollins will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against the winner of the men’s Elimination Chamber match. Meanwhile, Lynch is the logical favorite to win the women’s Chamber bout and go on to face Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 40.
McIntyre, of course, would be the top choice to win the men’s Elimination Chamber bout and advance to challenge, ironically enough, Rollins. But it was reported earlier this week that McIntyre still hadn’t signed a new deal while McIntyre himself just told The West Sport (h/t Fightful) that he “can’t talk” about his current contract status.
With McIntyre still yet to re-sign, however, that can’t be a very good sign for WWE.
It’s been well known for several months now that McIntyre’s deal was running out, and his contract negotations have been described as a “numbers game.” In other words, WWE may not be willing to match what McIntyre wants to make, and that is certainly not unprecedented.
WWE recently “walked away” from contract negotations with former women’s champion Sasha Banks—a.k.a. Mercedes Mone—as a result of her high price tag, so it isn’t unfathomable to think that the company will do exactly the same with McIntyre. Mone is now headed to AEW, and McIntyre would be a strong candidate to follow suit.
AEW, after all, would seemingly be able to offer McIntyre a lucrative deal with a favorable schedule and a strong on-screen push. As arguably the best heel on Raw and in the midst of the best character work of his career, McIntyre is actually in the process of really increasing his value to both WWE and AEW.
But the next week or two will be very telling in terms of McIntyre’s long-term prospects. On Monday’s Raw, he will face Cody Rhodes in singles action. Less than a week later, he will attempt to win the men’s EC match and punch his ticket to WrestleMania.
If McIntyre loses both of those matches and does so cleanly? Rest assured that this could and should be taken as a sign that—despite WWE extending his deal and both sides being eager to get a deal done—he could ultimately still be on his way out.
