However, there are reportedly no active creative discussions regarding his WWE television return at this time, meaning an in-ring comeback may not happen immediately. McIntyre is still working on major WWE-related projects, including the upcoming live-action microdramas with ReelShort featuring Jacob Fatu and Joe Hendry.

This week, McIntyre published a workout video with the caption, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Drew McIntyre (@dmcintyrewwe)

The post News regarding Drew McIntyre’s status with WWE heading into the fall of 2026 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Don’t expect former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre back anytime soon in a WWE ring. While online reports suggested McIntyre was set for a return leading into SummerSlam, those rumors were completely inaccurate as there has been nothing on the table for McIntyre creatively, and for good reason. Since returning from filming the Highlander reboot in Scotland, McIntyre has been circling several other Hollywood projects.”

McIntyre has been announced for a role in the upcoming historical action drama The Last Druid, which will star Russell Crowe. Filming is scheduled to take place in Spain this summer. According to the film’s synopsis, “An Emperor discovers a secluded Druid stronghold, forcing a peaceful Celtic elder to take up arms and protect his family and people from annihilation.” Crowe will portray the Celtic elder. There is currently no word on what role McIntyre will play in the film.

The post Rumors of Drew McIntyre returning to WWE for SummerSlam said to be “completely inaccurate” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“For those fans who spent hard earned money on a chance to say hello, take a photo, have something signed, or give me one of my many, many bracelets, I appreciate each and every single one of you.

To those who rushed my family and I in the hotel, kept your kids up till 2am throwing them in front of us, or shoved a camera in my face without asking, you’re lucky I’m a calm natured person outside the ring. Please don’t do that ever again.”

For those fans who spent hard earned money on a chance to say hello, take a photo, have something signed, or give me one of my many, many bracelets, I appreciate each and every single one of you.

To those who rushed my family and I in the hotel, kept your kids up till 2am… pic.twitter.com/qTbeS7plIk

— Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) April 21, 2026

The post Drew McIntyre says there were fans that “rushed” him and his family during WWE WrestleMania 42 week appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Let’s get to it.

Unsanctioned Match

Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu

For the life of me, why do they use the word ‘unsanctioned’? “No Holds Barred or “Street Fight”. That simple.

It does have the potential to upstage the card on night 1, which they might need if the main event doesn’t tickle the fans fancy. It does make for a good story, Drew’s gotta do Highlander, and Jacob is a main eventer in waiting. The Scotsman got the title before as a compensation of sorts, and maybe he won’t be a heel when he returns. 

Winner: Jacob Fatu

The Vision and IShowSpeed vs. The Usos and LA Knight

The celebrity match. It’s bound to be pretty solid. Not a show stealer exactly, but it’ll get fans warmed up for the rest of the night. Plus with Logan Paul in there, high spots!

Winners: The Usos and LA Knight

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

Ah yes, is Suplex City about to get demolished, or at least get wrecked good? I recall 11 years ago the beating Roman Reigns took, who kept coming back for more. Now this doesn’t need to be a repeat of Goldberg destroying him, but Lesnar should take the ‘L’ since he’s been built up as a force who can take this one.

Winner: Oba Femi

Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

Three years ago, we saw the Demon last. Edge insisted on giving Balor the ‘W’ but Vinnie Mac wasn’t having it. 

We likely won’t, but shouldn’t we get a moment involving Balor, Priest, and Ripley? Maybe Balor gets Dominik’s betrayal rubbed in his face only for him to remind them they turned the prodigal son into a bastard. I wish Rey Mysterio would – just once – confront one of them.

Whoever wins, the Demon needs to look like a force.

Winner: Finn Balor

Women’s Intercontinental Championship

Becky Lynch vs AJ Lee (C)

They took Bayley off the card last year for her benefit. Becky needs to be the one to lose. Also, you might’ve heard the rumors on a certain pale looking British lady about to make a comeback. How fitting would it be if AJ lost her title to Paige.

I’d say this will be a solid one, and AJ needs a big win in Vegas. Also, Becky could use a change in character.

Winner: AJ Lee

Women’s Tag Team Championships

Fatal Four Way match

The Bellas (maybe) vs. Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Charlotte and Alexa Bliss vs. The Irresistible Forces (C)

Perhaps they should’ve made a Gauntlet match to squeeze a few more women on the card, but hey, I’m not running this show.

Their plan with Charlotte and Alexa must be a feud, which might have happened sooner if they didn’t catch on as a team. With her having missed last year for Becky’s benefit, it’s Bayley’s time.

Will they ever sign Izzy? 

Winner: Bayley and Lyra

Intercontinental Championship

Ladder Match

Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rusev vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Penta (C)

Gee, six guys and some ladders, I’m sure this won’t be too exciting. 

How much more abuse can Rey take? There’s enough talent in the ring to send the fans home happy, and the chance for a Mexican Destroyer to end them all, well…

Winner: Je’Von Evans

United States Championship

Trick Williams vs. Sami Zayn (C)

Do we smell a double turn? You might call bulls***, but they knew what they were doing having Sami win. Trick Williams is headed for a turn, and Zayn needs a refresh bad.

Winner: Trick Williams

Women’s World Championship

Liv Morgan vs. Stephanie Vaquer (C)

Balor being kicked out means the Judgment Day’s golden age members are almost gone. Is Liv next? With how pitched this rivalry has been, it could steal the show. Plus, if Liv takes the ‘L’, it’ll likely be to botched interference from Raquel and/or Roxanne. 

As much as Morgan deserves the win, they’ve been pushing Stephanie hard. Coin flip.

Winner: Liv Morgan

WWE Women’s Championship

Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill (C)

I don’t wanna be “that guy”, but as much as Jade should lose it, Ripley winning it might not be a good move. She’s been pushed hard, and if they’re not careful, the fans will turn on her because, well they would. 

Winner: Rhea Ripley

WWE Championship

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes (C)

We’re here now. 

Is it really WCW in 2000 bad? Well, maybe, but in time history will be the judge.

The build towards Night 1’s main event, yeah, it’s been mostly a miss, but I can’t help but feel the haters wouldn’t be so down on it if it happened say, in ‘23 or ‘24. Yes, it was a case of creative not reading the room and needlessly turning Randy Orton heel. The less said about Pat McAfee, the better.

There is the Jelly Roll question. If he’s around, how will it go down?

Cody finished the story two years ago. The haters now couldn’t care less. 

Winner: Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship

Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk (C)

The match that will close Night 2, will it be a 5 star classic? Maybe. Both of these guys can deliver, but if Reigns wins, what then?

Roman keeps “returning” so much. He’s gotta be on TV enough to make the gold mean something, assuming they’re leaning towards Oba Femi or maybe Gunther dethroning him at SummerSlam. Either way, we’re looking at a potential classic.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Here’s some final thoughts.

All these calls for Vince McMahon to return and save the business, where was this sentiment four years ago? When boneheaded mistakes like the 2019 Hell in a Cell main event were still lingering in our heads? What about the torn up scripts? Aborted plots? Just before he resigned the first time a Smackdown only had 13 MINUTES of wrestling on a 2 hour show. 

TKO don’t care much about the fans, but neither did Vince. 

The IWC can’t see past the high ticket prices and the ESPN deal, but of course, let’s bring Vince back, and forget he only put women’s wrestling in the spotlight because Triple H made him. Vince says the ring is sacred, but he clearly didn’t think his marriage is, or that one shouldn’t pass women around like they’re candy.

I won’t even talk about NXT.

Order some pizzas and enjoy it. It only comes around once a year.

Don’t mess with the X.

The post The X-Factor: Predictions for WrestleMania 42 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“My goodness, it is hot. It’s hot right here in the UK. It’s gonna be a whole lot hotter in Vegas though. That’s right, it’s Mania week. Mania week, how’d it go by so quick?

I’m trying a new approach for this WrestleMania week PSA.

This will probably resonate more… pic.twitter.com/cudGdT1kvr

— Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) April 14, 2026

The post Drew McIntyre tries a different approach for his WWE WrestleMania 42 “public service announcement” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“We lost Chaz. It sucks. You know, he was our boy, and he had long-term liver disease for a long time. And, you know, finally we knew it was getting to the point where he was going to be gone soon.

The post Drew McIntyre: “There’s one thing I never make fun of CM Punk for—when Larry was gone, my heart broke for him” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I know my wife feels like it’s gonna be a lot shorter than I probably feel it’s going to be, especially with how I feel now and how creatively fulfilled I feel these days. But as long as I’m happy, as long as she’s happy, and as long as the fans are happy with what I’m doing, I don’t see any reason to slow down anytime soon, especially when I see guys getting up there in age right now and moving as well as they’re moving right now, because we’ve just moved so far forward with athletes. Look at LeBron James or Ronaldo, for example, the same age as me, and they’re just still at the top of their game.”

McIntyre continued with his thoughts about feeling “very creatively fulfilled” in WWE…

“There were a couple of moments where I was like damn, it sucks personally, but I can also look at the big picture these days. I’ve been knocked down enough times and fed a few disappointments sometimes where I didn’t always deal with it the right way for the bigger picture and understanding, okay, the company needs this right now.

How does this screw me up? It doesn’t really. It actually works for the character, and as long as it works for the character, I can be personally disappointed, but professionally, I know we’re still on the right track, and the fans are still going to be emotionally invested, and that’s all that matters, because I’ve been in situations where they were not emotionally invested. And the worst thing in the world in pro wrestling is silence.” (quotes courtesy of ChrisVanVliet.com)

The post Drew McIntyre comments on how much longer he plans to wrestle in WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

According to Ibou of Self Made Pro, sources have indicated that McIntyre vs. Fatu is expected to take place at WrestleMania 42 “with the bout likely set to be contested inside Hell in a Cell.” It was previously reported that WWE considered a HIAC stipulation for WrestleMania 42 for either Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes or McIntyre vs. Cody.

Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com noted the following about the McIntyre vs. Fatu storyline…

“Here’s the thing, at some point almost every wrestler will meet someone that is their equal and at that point, it’s two guys in a fight. Drew is definitely Jacob’s equal and also a man to avoid, so I am good with what they are doing. After them falling off of the building, it has to be Jacob-Drew at Mania and it should be inside Hell In The Cell because their feud has escalated to that point.”

Drew McIntyre vs Jacob Fatu will take place at WrestleMania and according to sources close to those involved, the expectation is that the bout will be a Hell in a Cell match.

— Ibou, of Self Made (@BackupHangman) March 26, 2026

The post Potential spoiler regarding WWE’s plans for Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu at WrestleMania 42 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

We know that right now tickets for Wrestlemania are not selling like they should for a two night event. Then again how could they sell with the prices they are charging for tickets. The big money match with CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns is set. I would assume that’s the main event for night two simply because it’s the bigger match. The WWE Championship match was always going to be the lesser of the two. So I guess they had to load up the first night of the show with Cody vs. Orton. I just didn’t like how the match between Cody and Drew went.

For starters, what was up with Lil’ Nat’ch Charles Robinson during the match? At one point Cody has Drew in the figure four and Drew reaches the ropes…but Robinson doesn’t call for a break. Did I miss an announcement that this match was no disqualifications? Later Drew puts Cody through a Slim Jim table (still can’t believe they sponsor the tables). I thought for sure there would be a Dusty finish when Drew shoved Lil’ Nat’ch into the way of Cody. Second referee comes out and counts the win only for the original referee to overrule him and say Drew was disqualified. Cody gets the win…but doesn’t get the gold. It’s a time tested finish that’s been done more time then I can count.

We didn’t get that. What we got was Drew taking out the second referee only for Robinson to gather himself long enough to count the three and presto changeo Cody Rhodes is WWE Champion…again. It’s stuff like this that puzzles me about WWE Creative. Things honestly used to be simpler and more concise when Vince was in charge and Pat Patterson was the only guy bouncing ideas off him. Now there’s God knows how many people in the writers room. Before anyone says it in the comments or else where…I don’t want to see Vince McMahon back. I was just saying things were simpler back then.

There was an interesting article on the main page of NoDQ the other day about how the WWE is “listening” to online criticism. I got a good laugh from that notion. The WWE has never and I mean ever cared about what those of us in the IWC have to say. If they did the last twenty five years of the company would not have ever happened.

Compared to Vince McMahon as head booker/producer of the WWE, Triple H’s run as executive producer has been night and day. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been problems along the way. This thing with Cody having to be on top is an example of where the WWE doesn’t understand us on the internet and how we really feel. I have no problem with Cody being in the main event. My problem is just because he’s in the main event doesn’t mean he has to win it all the time.

I’ve said this more than once. The Chase is better than The Catch. It’s not just a great Motorhead song. Cody was better at the chase for the championship. It’s funny, for a company that is supposed to be so enamored with Cody’s dad…The American Dream Dusty Rhodes, they sure do the opposite of what he would do. Yes, Dusty was the top good guy and he was always chasing Ric Flair for the World Championship. But of the few times when Dusty would catch Flair and win the title, it would either be reversed quickly or he would only hold the title for a short time.

There was no reason for Cody to win the WWE Championship on Smackdown other than they have no idea what they are doing rolling into Wrestlemania. All they know is CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns is the top match. Everything else under that they really don’t care about. Sure we’re getting Liv Morgan vs. Stephanie Vaquer and Jade Cargil vs. Rhea Ripley. But aside from the four matches announced that is pretty much it. I read somewhere that they want a total of like fourteen matches for the show. Oh yeah there is Brock Lesnar with an open challenge. But that’s only like that because they don’t know what to do with Brock either.

People seem to think that we’re getting Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi at Wrestlemania. I don’t think they’re doing that. I just can’t see Brock getting squashed by Oba Femi at Wrestlemania. Brock is probably in the last year of his career and logical thinking says he’ll retire at Summerslam since it’s in his hometown of Minneapolis. That’s when we’ll get Gunther vs. Brock one would hope. That match writes itself…but they have to get there first. That’s the problem with WWE Creative in a nutshell. They have all these potential good matches. Just no way of getting there.

Now take what just happened on RAW last night. They had a women’s gauntlet match for a shot at the Women’s Intercontinental champion AJ Lee. Was this match for Wrestlemania? No it’s for next week. I don’t understand why we even had this match. Odds are Becky interferes next week in the match and it’s Becky vs. AJ Lee once again at Wrestlemania. Sucks for Bayley because she deserves a match at Wrestlemania. I’d much rather see AJ Lee vs. Bayley at Wrestlemania than AJ Lee vs. Becky again.

No offense to Becky, but her whole act bores me as much as QB1 Cody bores me. She needs some time off tv to recharge and come back fresh. At least there’s one thing going right and it’s the build for CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns. I enjoyed Punk’s promo that turned into a promo with him and The Uso’s. The Uso’s are so much better when they are being serious. Jey was all YOU BETTER APPOLOGIZE for what Punk said about Roman’s dad last week. Oh he apologized all right. Apologized for Roman and all he does in making the Uso’s look like a couple of young boys for him.

So I’m very interested in where this is all going with Punk and Roman when he shows up. I hope for the WWE’s sake on Smackdown they pull out something huge to make people care about Cody vs. Orton. Wrestling wise it should be a fine match. But who knows if they can pull it off storyline wise.

Well I guess that’s it for this week. As always you can leave some feedback down below, on twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com

The post The Phantom Rant: Creative Issues With WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“We went from the reign of terror to the booking of terror. ”

There were also negative reactions on Twitter/X to WWE’s video of Cody winning the title. One user wrote, “@Drew McIntyre deserves better, man. WTF .” Another commented, “I feel horrible for Drew, but that’s no one’s fault but Triple H’s. All he had to do was have Drew win at WrestleMania, and Cody could have won here.” A third user added, “Boring champion. You guys are proud of this? Come on, man — for a feud that’s happened hella times before, lol.”

The post Cody Rhodes winning the WWE Title from Drew McIntyre receives negative reaction from online fans appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.