For the second week in a row, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus took part in a match with a spot in the Intercontinental Championship match opposite Gunther at Wrestlemania 39 on the line, and for a second, there wasn't a clean winner at the end of the match.
First came the end of the fatal five-way on SmackDown, where McIntyre and Sheamus both pinned an opponent at the very same time and forced Adam Pearce to run it back the following week in a one-on-one match for a spot at WrestleMania. When that match came along again, McIntyre and Sheamus took it upon themselves to put a beating on each other in a slobberknocker for a trip to WrestleMania, but again, there wasn't a clear victor, as the members of Imperium, Gunther Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser, decided to interfere with the ending and again have the bell rung without a clear victor.
Fortunately, this time, Pearce decided against playing any more games, and before Gunther could even head back to the locker room, WWE's Director of Live Events made it official: Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 39.
Immediately asked after the segment for comment on the prospects of having to face not one but two foes at WrestleMania 39 by Megan Morant for a SmackDown digital exclusive, Gunther let it be known that he isn't a fan of Pearce's decision.
“Comment? You want a comment on this?” Gunther asked. “This is a disgrace. This place is a disgrace. That is just Adam Pearce covering up his own faults, that’s all it is. That’s why it’s a triple-threat match, not a singles match, as it should have been. Well, I’ll tell you this, I’ve beaten Sheamus before, twice, so can I beat Drew McIntyre. And come WrestleMania, they will understand what it means when we say that the mat is sacred.”
Fortunately, one person who is excited about the prospects of wrestling for the IC Title at Mania is Sheamus, who took to Twitter to call out Gunther for his silly response.
Is Sheamus onto something? Will Gunther leave SoFi Stadium with his signature title around his waist? Or will his reign come to an end and leave him in need of an opponent, say, Cody Rhodes, who will be wrestling Kaiser on the forthcoming edition of SmackDown? Only time will tell, but needless to say, the match's other participant, McIntyre, is ready for a fight.
Drew McIntyre has a message for GUNTHER and Sheamus before WrestleMania.
Discussing how he felt about the ending of his match against Sheamus on SmackDown on the SmackDown LowDown, McIntyre let it be known that he's ready to “redefine physicality” as long as he leaves Inglewood with the IC Title at the end of the night.
“I don’t know where to begin, McIntyre said. I’m very happy for one, earning a spot in this WrestleMania, this is what we work towards all year round, 52 week a year, every weekend, every TV, the Intercontinental Title is the workhorse title and if you take my schedule for this past year, set it down in front of anyone in this company, I would defy them to do anything more than Drew McIntyre has done this year and has happily done this year, because this is what I love.
“The Intercontinental Title, I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past few weeks, to say this stuff got on with Sheamus, I don’t want to talk about that right now or think about that right now but this is a full-circle moment for me. I won that title when I was 24 years old, I did not appreciate it in the moment, I saw it almost like ‘that’s what you win and then you move onto the heavyweight title.’ No, this is different, this is a huge match to me, more than I can put into words and full-circle is the only way I can put it. Tonight, Sheamus and I beat the h*ll out of each other, we always beat the h*ll out of each other but this was different. I know how much he wants that title, I guess he knows how much I want that moment and we went to war on each other. People are going to be talking about this match all the way to Mania. It’s all three of us now. What happened at the end happened, it’s a Triple Threat and I just… feel sorry for anyone body else on the show if you’re on after us. We’re going to redefine physicality in that match, nobody’s gin got be able to follow us and Drew McIntyre, at the end of WrestleMania, is gonna be the Intercontinental Champion.”
Considering Gunther and Sheamus have already put on two of the hardest-hitting matches the WWE Universe has seen in years during their matches at Clash at the Castle and again on SmackDown, this has the potential to be one of the hardest-hitting matches WWE has booked in a long time. Add McIntyre into the mix, and all of the ingredients for an all-time slobberknocker are there.