Drew McIntyre made a phone call to his former bandmate in order to allow Heath Slater to take a final bow.
On the July 6 episode of WWE Raw, Dolph Ziggler brought Heath Slater to the ring with him so that Heath could challenge Drew McIntyre in a match that Drew promised him before Slater was released on Wednesday, April 15, 2020.
McIntyre and Slater have a history as 2/3 of the 3MB faction and Drew remained close with his friend following McIntyre’s initial release from WWE in 2014 and to this very day.
Speaking with talkSPORT, the WWE Champion reveals that he made the call did Heath Slater to appear on the show and also reveals that his wife helped him see Slater's point of view at this time in his career.
“The moment at the end was very special and I was very much pushing for that idea to happen,” McIntyre started. “I think I saw something on the internet saying I was behind it and I’m thinking how are they getting this information?! But yeah, I played a big part in making it happen and to be honest, Heath was a little bit against it and I spoke to my wife right before the phone call I made to Heath to try and convince him to come onto the show for the segment.
“She reminded me how I felt at the time when I was released and sure enough, he felt the same. He appreciated the opportunity with WWE, it was where he had made his name, but mentally he has moved on.
Drew continued, “[Heath Slater’s] ready for the next stage and he’s not sure about going backwards, so I made it clear to him like ‘trust me, this isn’t going to be like anything you’ve done.’ The first thing I did outside of WWE was ICW and I showed my real personality and it caused a buzz and went viral on the underground, but if you get the chance to show your real personality on RAW that’s going to set you on the right course. I know he’s been working out hard, so people will get to see what he looks like now and it also advances our story – everybody wins. We finally got him on board and got him on the show – he absolutely killed it, like I knew he would.”
Drew McIntyre is slated to face Dolph Ziggler in a stipulation of Dolph Ziggler's choosing for the WWE Championship at The Horror Show at WWE Extreme Rules on July 18.
