Drew McIntyre Backstage Incident at WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Event Update – More on LA Knight’s Promo on 2/7 SmackDown Show Addressing McIntyre’s Issues

As noted before, Drew McIntyre was involved in a backstage incident at last Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble 2025 event. McIntyre was furious over his issues with LA Knight messing up the original plans for his elimination from the Men’s Royal Rumble match that was meant to be a major moment to kick off a WrestleMania 41 program with Damian Priest.

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Memphis, Tennessee featured McIntyre defeating Knight and Jimmy Uso in a Triple Threat Qualifying match for the Men’s Elimination Chamber match at next month’s Elimination Chamber 2025 event. This match was notable for a pre-match promo segment that featured Knight referencing McIntyre’s backstage incident at the Royal Rumble.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Knight’s PSA about mental health awareness and it being okay to cry was a genuine speech by him. Those spoken to reportedly also stated that Knight’s message was also meant to serve as a lighthearted dig at McIntyre and also further joked about “getting his stuff in” before ending his promo with his signature catchphrase.

It was reported that while the match on Friday’s SmackDown show was a little stiff physically, both Knight and McIntyre emerged unscathed and the two had no issues working together on the show. It was also reported that those backstage had no concern about Knight and McIntyre’s ability to work together. Many of those backstage viewed the situation as an opportunity to incorporate real-life tension into the storyline between the two.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that while the leak of McIntyre’s backstage frustrations was not ideal for WWE, both him and Knight handled it professionally. McIntyre reportedly had no problem with Knight’s promo on Friday’s show.