Drew McIntyre actually thanks CM Punk.
The segment between Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins on the March 25th episode of WWE Raw garnered a lot of attention from fans as the three men traded personal shots and things got a bit uncomfortable when Punk tried to get McIntyre to say Vince McMahon's name when McIntyre referred to himself as "The Chosen One," a nickname given to him by McMahon.
"I have to thank him [Punk] for that I guess," McIntyre said in an interview with Alex McCarthy of Daily Mail. "One thing I can thank him for. If he's got that microphone you know he's bringing his A-game and perhaps the first time we were in the ring together he was still finding his feet being back in WWE. I think he realised – I know he realised, I could see it in his eyes – this isn't the same Drew and I had his number the first time we were in the ring together, and I stomped his stupid little arm.
"The second time, I could see it in his eyes, 'Right, I'm back, I've got all my guns loaded,' and this is the CM Punk of old. And I knew I could either step up to his level or I can drown and I don't belong at his level. So it was cool to have that opportunity to go back and forth and have people go, 'Oh my god, this is insane.' When you thought it couldn't get anymore insane it kept escalating and escalating. You have to be quick on your feet and you have to know exactly who you are in this industry if you're going to compete at the top level. So I can say thank you to him for showing in that segment everybody that said well, Drew just went to-to-toe with Punk in his prime, on fire. And Seth also added to that segment in what has become something of a legendary segment. It's all people talk to me about recently."
McIntyre and Punk have continued to trade barbs over the past two months, on television and through social media.
The latest shot came on Monday's WWE Raw, when McIntyre called fans of Punk stupid.
