Drew McIntyre Shoots on CM Punk Backstage Heat, Wants Match at WWE SummerSlam 2024

Drew McIntyre took some shots at CM Punk in an interview Friday and expressed his desire to have a big match against him in the future.

Speaking on the Gorilla Position (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), McIntyre took issue with Punk, claiming that he has made no attempts to make amends for past misdeeds since returning to WWE in November:

''I mean, I've been pretty honest about my opinions. Huge name, has a lot of attention from not just the hardcore fans, but the casual fanbase know exactly who he is. He sells tickets and he's a draw, but he's a terrible human being and I was around him when I grew up, and there's instances I haven't talked about. Perhaps I wouldn't talk about till it's face to face with him, but he knows, and those certain feelings seem like much hasn't changed from talking to people that I know regarding his personality, and he came back I felt a certain way.

"He instead of wanting to pull me aside even backstage, and never mind on television and saying, 'Hey, you know, maybe I wasn't a good person back then or maybe it wasn't a bad place,' like no, no, none of that. Just let's act like everything's perfectly fine, everything's fine, everything's hunky dory, it's all right."

McIntyre declined to get into specifics about how Punk may have wronged him during each of their first runs with WWE, but the bad blood isn't stopping the Scottish Warrior from wanting to mix it up in the ring with Punk.

When asked about the possibility of facing Punk at SummerSlam in August after he returns from a torn triceps suffered during the Royal Rumble match in January, McIntyre made it clear that he is game, while also poking fun at Punk's durability (h/t Ishaan Rathi of Ringside News):

"Yeah, I just hope he's careful. Just worried he's going to injure something else during rehab. Man's made of glass. I want that match. I really want that match.

"I'm just concerned for him, especially wrestling someone like me. I'm a freaking monster in there. … I got my hands on him. You saw what I did to him at Rumble. I tore him to pieces. I chopped him to bits. ... Punk was black and blue. I ended up hurting him in there."

After Punk finished as the runner-up to Cody Rhodes in the 2024 men's Royal Rumble match, he divulged on the following episode of Raw that he tore his triceps and would not be able to compete at WrestleMania 40.

Embracing his new heel character, McIntyre confronted Punk and said he had prayed for his downfall. McIntyre also attacked Punk, adding further insult to injury.

Prior to the attack, Punk proclaimed that he would be coming for McIntyre when he was healthy enough to return, so WWE was seemingly teasing an eventual match between them.

McIntyre subsequently had a shirt produced by WWE, showing him posing in front of a gravestone that mocks Punk's WrestleMania dreams getting dashed.

All signs pointed toward a World Heavyweight Championship match between Punk and Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, but when Punk's injury presented an opportunity, McIntyre stepped up by winning an Elimination Chamber match to become Rollins' WrestleMania opponent.

If McIntyre beats Rollins at WrestleMania, he could enter the summer as world heavyweight champion, which would make the stakes huge for a clash with Punk.

Real-life issues tend to make pro wrestling storylines far more interesting for fans, and given the history between McIntyre and Punk, the WWE Universe will likely be locked in if and when they are booked to face each other.

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