Drew McIntyre Reveals He Was Initially Set To Face The Undertaker At WrestleMania 26
This would have been a huge step up for the young superstar.
In an interview with BT Sport, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre revealed that he was initially considered to face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania during his first run in the company.
In a clip released on BT Sport's Twitter, McIntyre explains that he was set to face off against 'Taker at WrestleMania 26, but WWE eventually walked back on the plans believing that he wasn't ready.
McIntyre also stated that upon his arrival in the company at just 22-years-old the WWE CEO told him to only listen to the Deadman when it came to wrestling advice.
“The inevitable goal was to have a big match between him and I. Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready at the time. Things worked out the way it worked out. I believe it led to, instead of myself and Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, the retirement match, which was obviously a phenomenal match. I could not have delivered on that level at the time.”
The WWE Champion also stated that high on his list of priorities upon his return to the company is to have a singles match with the Phenom.
"I've got my list of things that I've returned to the WWE to do: Obviously number one was win the championship which I've done. Wrestling the Undertaker, after seeing him at Wrestlemania and how good he looked, is up there, and I know he's capable of doing it and I want it to happen before he rides off for that last time into the sunset."
The news also begs the question, If McIntyre was the originally intended to be 'Taker's opponent at Wrestlemania 26, what was the original plan for Shawn Michaels? Of course, the legendary rematch that ultimately took place between the pair signalled HBK's retirement, so was Michaels going to have a different opponent for his final match? Or, did he come to the decision to retire between the two epic bouts?