Drew McIntyre has shared just how terrifying his infamous Hell in a Cell match with CM Punk became just minutes in.
The pair battled across the course of 2024 as one of the rivalries of the year.
Things intensified after WrestleMania XL when Punk effectively cost McIntyre the World Heavyweight Championship.
The Scot had just beaten Seth Rollins to claim the gold in Philadelphia, but ended up goading Punk – injured at ringside – and got bashed for it, cashed in on by Money in the Bank holder Damian Priest as a result.
From there, the Claymore master and the Second City Saint embarked on a bitter feud that wowed fans around the world with its intensity and physicality.
The duo fought here, there, and everywhere but principally mapped out their war across three pay-per-view matches: SummerSlam, Bash in Berlin and Bad Blood, where they fought inside the Cell.
That bout was always intended to be a brutal affair, but the wrestling sensations got more than even they bargained for within moments of the bell.
Early in the contest, McIntyre was struck across the top of the head with a toolbox, the impact effectively splitting him across his skull and leaving a wound that took 16 post-match staples to shut.
In a new interview, the Ayr native has shared just how worrying that was at the time. The impact, he said, leaving him ‘bleeding out’ and sensitive even to the lights in the arena.
His own condition aside, he was left fearing for the near year-long story he and Punk had been trying to tell. Culminating in this moment, he must have momentarily feared it had been derailed.
McIntyre explained to Untapped: “I got hit in the head in the match and I got 16 staples across the top of my head. That was very real.
“I got hit by a toolbox, and right away, I saw the blood spurt across the ring within the first seven, eight minutes of the match.
“We’ve been building this story for a year, this was the culmination of this giant story, and I was like: ‘Oh no, I’m bleeding out, and the lights are getting very bright right now!’”
As professional wrestlers so often do, McIntyre was somehow able to summon the wherewithal to continue the bout to its conclusion.
The pair ended up toiling for over half an hour, such was their desire to give the feud a memorable conclusion.
The former world champ added:” That’s one of those moments you just gotta suck it up, and considering the story we told, the blood feud we were having, it was actually perfect.
“We have our doctors on site to ensure that I’m okay, our referee’s communicating with the people in the back, they’re relating messages from me to say: ‘I’m okay.’
“For the viewers in the arena, the viewers at home, it was the violence required within the confines of that story to settle this year-long tale.”
WWE’s chief antagonist, McIntyre looks set for a WrestleMania showdown with Priest as that rivalry – also not short of controversy – continues to heat up.
Punk, meanwhile, is headed for a triple-threat battle with Roman Reigns and Rollins.
