WWE superstar Ridge Holland is confident Drew McIntyre will return to a WWE ring despite his ongoing contract drama.
McIntyre – the first and only British pro wrestler to win the WWE title- hasn’t been seen since WrestleMania 39 when he and Sheamus lost a Triple Threat Match to Intercontinental Champion Gunther.
Reports suggest the Scottish bruiser’s deal is in its final year and talks with Vince McMahon’s promotion have hit a snag.
However, fans’ hopes were raised when the two-time world champion attended the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin as a WWE ambassador earlier this month.
And fellow Brit Holland believes the WWE Universe hasn’t seen the last of McIntyre.
The ex-rugby league ace admits he hasn’t spoken to the 38-year-old about his future but is confident he will eventually return to the wrestling giants.
Holland told SunSport: “Obviously, I’ve not got a crystal ball. I haven’t spoken to Drew about this situation.
“But knowing Drew, I think that whether it’s in a month, two months, three months, four months, I think you’ll see Drew McIntyre back in a WWE ring.”
British fans are hoping to see McIntyre returning at Money in the Bank on July 1 at The O2 Arena in London.
But not as much as they want to see fellow British star Butch winning the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
The same goes for Holland, who will be rooting for his fellow Brawling Brute backstage.
The West Yorkshireman insists he and fellow stablemate Sheamus won’t be accompanying the ex-UK Champion to the ring because he needs to “go solo”.
That is despite the fact he will be going up against Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, LA Knight, Damian Priest, Santos Escobar and of course Logan Paul.
Holland added: “I think Butch needs to go solo. We already know how talented he is. In my opinion, he is one of if not the best wrestlers in the world.
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“So we need to just let him go do his thing. And once again, prove just how good he is and bring that Money in the Bank contract back to the Brutes and watch him cash it in and get some gold around his waist.”
The winner of the Money in the Bank Match will be guaranteed a world title opportunity whenever he pleases.
Holland insists Butch is fully focused on the bout and hasn’t been thinking about which champion he will challenge if he wins the briefcase.
But the heavyweight hinted the Birmingham native will go after Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who has held the title for a staggering 1,019 days and some claim he could break Bruno Sammartino’s record 2,803-day reign.
Holland said: “We haven’t really crossed that bridge with Butch about who we would want to pick. But yeah, Roman is the golden goose at the minute, he’s the man. He’s the face of the company.
“Whoever might be throwing Roman Reigns. Yeah, it will change their career. And it will change their life because this title reign that Roman has built along with Paul Heyman and The Bloodline as well is history-making.
“I’m sure Roman’s got the goal of beating Bruno Sammartino’s record and I’ve no doubt he thinks he’s the best because he goes out there and wants people to acknowledge him as the best.
“So I think – me – if I were in the ladder match and I won the contract, I’d be gunning for Roman. Yeah, without a doubt.”
Reigns has successfully defended his title against a raft of the world’s best wrestlers, like Brock Lesnar, John Cena, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, Seth Rollins, Edge, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, McIntyre and more.
But Holland believes Butch could be the one to finally dethrone The Tribal Chief because, unlike all of his previous challengers, he doesn’t know the English star.
The 35-year-old added: “Butch’s got not just the technical prowess but just the killer instinct and his knowledge of the business and the knowledge of how to punish a person’s body parts. How to get the most out of everything he does. He’s focused, he’s determined.
“And if you look at Roman’s past opponents he’s known them pretty well. So he’s been able to know their strengths, know their weaknesses know what they’re about, know what they’re gonna do before they do it. He’s a student, is Roman.
“But the one thing that might kind of offset Roman is the unknown, and Butch is the unknown. He doesn’t know anything about Butch, you know, it’s very hard to plan to fight someone to wrestle somebody that you know nothing about.
“So I think that’s a huge upside for Butch and I think it’s a little bit of a worrisome factor for Roman if Butch were to cash in the contract on Roman.”
‘WWE brings Money In The Bank to The O2 in London on Saturday 1st July. For tickets visit: https://www.wwe.com/event/money-in-the-bank. Fans can tune in on the WWE Network.’
