Drew McIntyre recently spoke with Post and Courier. Here are highlights from the interview:

One of the differences when he returned to WWE: “The last time I had an opportunity to be in NXT was in its infant stages. I had been a part of Raw and Smackdown for a few years, so I really didn’t know anybody. This time around, after having been gone for around three years, it was a surprise at NXT Takeover: Orlando. Once I headed back to the locker room afterwards, I knew legitimately 80 percent of the locker room, as well as knowing everybody who works backstage with the camera crew, the producers, etc. I saw so many familiar faces … it felt like I had never been gone.”

Lessons he learned while away from WWE: “When you’re by yourself and not with WWE, you are your own business. And I was very successful in that business because of all the lessons I learned. I truly learned how to be a top brand myself and be what I needed to be. When the time was right and I wasn’t under contract anywhere, I spoke to Triple H on the phone. It was the right time to come home, and I was the right guy. I got the opportunity, and now I’ve got the ball and I’m going to run with it as far as I can.”

Making NXT being the number one show: “My job is to get NXT recognized as that third brand, not just as developmental. And since I’ve been back I’ve noticed the difference that people are starting to refer to it that way. It obviously doesn’t have the platform that Raw or Smackdown does, but I believe it’s the No. 1 show. We’re so competitive and passionate when it comes to our shows. I hope everyone’s keeping an eye on us. We are the No. 1 show for a reason. Everyone on the show has earned that spot. There are 150 people down at NXT. So if you’re on the show, wherever it may be, they’ve earned that spot and are giving a WrestleMania performance every time they’re in the ring.”

The post Drew McIntyre Says NXT Is The #1 Show appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Seth Rollins recently spoke with Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast. Here are some highlights:

Competition Within The Shield: “I think it was a healthy competition though. It was one of those things where it helped us push each other because we all wanted to be single’s stars – we were never like, ‘hey, let’s do this together and call ourselves The Shield.’ That was kind of thrust upon us. Myself, Ambrose, and Reigns all separately down in NXT/FCW, whatever, were all on our own doing our own thing, we all wanted to be world champion and that kind of stuff. We all had a little bit of a camaraderie as far as our generation coming to the forefront and pushing some of these older guys out of the way, but like, once we got put together in The Shield, it was honestly like a real brother type of bond as far as travel together, workout together, we had the same mindset. We were going to use that triad of force to be an even bigger wedge and really shove everybody else out of the way. And then, as we got sort of towards the end of it, we were like, ‘well, I want to be positioned to be seen this way or that way’ amongst the three of us. But again, I don’t think there was ever any jealousy. There was never any envy. It was a positive sort of healthy environment, healthy competition, to see who could kind of one up each other.”

The Breakup of The Shield: “It was thrust upon us very quickly. I don’t know if that story [has] been told or not, but we were not prepared so well for the break up – ‘yeah, you’re going this way, you’re going this way, you’re going that way’ sort of thing. Well, no, [they did not want to break up] we weren’t ready for it. We thought we had a big babyface run in us, which is what we just started. We had two months with Evolution, having a couple of six-mans. We were like, ‘alright, let’s go! This is the idea we have to kind of push ourselves in that direction’ and they were like, ‘no! We need three single’s stars and we need them right now.’ And I was like, ‘well, if it’s going to be anybody, [there is] no better time than when we were on top of the world, so it worked really well and I was hesitant at first because I didn’t really see it that way, myself as the bad guy of the group. But once it was kind of laid out and the ball started rolling in my head, I was like, ‘okay, this is definitely something I can slide into’ and it worked out quite well.”

Returning From Injury as a Heel:”Yeah, it was a little confusing at first. I guess, when it was happening, I was like, ‘it only made sense, I thought, for me to come back as a babyface, I thought personally. I thought all the makings of a hot babyface comeback were right there. You talk about Triple H with the quad tear and the return at Madison Square Garden. I think everybody had visions of that in their head and that just never came to fruition. It just never happened. It was a little bit of a letdown. And then, I had to kind of slide back into a role, and, if I remember correctly, most of the fans were not really ready for me to come back as a bad guy at that point. Yeah, they were ready to cheer. looking back on in now, in retrospect, I think it was… the story arc, the character arc I’ve kind of gone through even though it has been slow, it [has] been very good and well told. On the backend of it, I think looking back on all of this, it will be better this way, but it was still strange for sure.”

The post Seth Rollins Says The Shield Breakup Was Out Of The Blue appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.