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Big E says he felt bad for Drew McIntyre after WWE welcomed fans back to full capacity arenas for the first time in 16 months.
McIntyre held the WWE Championship for a combined 300 days during the empty-arena shows at the Performance Center and WWE ThunderDome. By contrast, Big E won the Money in the Bank contract in front of thousands of fans at last week’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Big E revealed he spared a thought for McIntyre as he reflected on his MITB triumph.
“A part of me afterwards, as I’ve had time to sit and think, I kind of sat back and felt bad for someone like Drew, who had his biggest moments without people and without fans,” Big E said. “Because if we had that same match in the ThunderDome, I still would’ve been very grateful, I still would’ve had the same emotions, but the stuff that makes you stay up all night [is the fans]. I only slept 90 minutes because I was just sitting in my hotel room buzzing for hours and hours.”
Moving forward, Big E has the opportunity to challenge for the WWE Championship or Universal Championship at a time of his choosing. Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre looks set to continue his rivalry with Jinder Mahal in the coming weeks on RAW.
Drew McIntyre’s big moments without fans in attendance
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Drew McIntyre won the 2020 Royal Rumble in front of over 42,000 fans in Houston, Texas. Aside from that moment, the majority of his high-profile WWE victories occurred without fans in the arena.
The biggest win of McIntyre’s career came at WrestleMania 36 when he defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. The pre-recorded event, which was taped at WWE’s Performance Center, was the first pay-per-view to be held without a crowd.
McIntyre defeated WWE stars including Bobby Lashley, Dolph Ziggler, Goldberg, Seth Rollins, and Sheamus in front of no fans. He also won his second WWE Championship from Randy Orton on the November 16, 2020 episode of RAW at the WWE ThunderDome.
Please credit After The Bell and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
