Kenny McIntosh from Inside The Ropes sent along the following:
Four years on from his first WWE Championship victory in an empty Performance Center, McIntyre finally had his moment in front of fans and loved ones as he defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. In the interview, McIntyre spoke about his first title win and how far his career has come since:
“Yeah, I did think about that. I mean I’m basically the only one that does still think about it. It was nice of Cody to have half- arsedly mention it on SmackDown when we were talking, before he told me to go screw myself after I put myself out in front of the world. He’s somebody that doesn’t forget because he’s been on a very similar journey as myself to get to where he’s at now, and he appreciates what’s come before rather than what have you done for me lately?
Unfortunately, a lot of people have that attitude. This is it. We got the title match at WrestleMania, family are going to be there and I’m going to make sure I have that moment with the title. Still, at the time with the mindset, with the fans, where they completely turned on me for nothing, just because they liked the other guy more, even though Drew was there for them during the tough times. Doesn’t matter. What have you done for me lately? It was still awesome.”
When asked how it felt to be in a top storyline at WrestleMania 40, McIntyre spoke about the feeling of validation and being able to celebrate the victory, noting how special the 5-minute reign was to him:
“I felt validated in Philadelphia at ‘Mania to have that moment. I made the absolute most of it after I won the match, with the fans chanting “you deserve it”. Wish it was “you’ve earned it”, because I certainly felt like I’d earned that moment. But nonetheless, I was happy about it. I had a moment with Seth, we’re not like Punk and I, not got this personal rivalry. It’s a very professional rivalry, where one believes they’re better than the other and everybody else wants to lead the charge. It’s good to have that kind of friendly competition.
So we had a moment between ourselves, which was special. Then I was able to present the title to my wife, who was such a big part of the journey, which wasn’t planned. I went with how I felt at that moment. That five minutes after the pinfall was still very special, still counts and still something that will always stick with me before everything went horribly wrong in front of the world.”
