WWE Rolls Into Las Vegas For Money In The Bank With Stars Like Drew McIntrye While UFC Stages Its Fight Show On Other Side Of Strip Saturday
By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
At six-foot, five-inches and 270 pounds, WWE’s Drew McIntyre stands out just about anywhere in the world.
The Scotsman commands center ring wearing a kilt and wielding a six-foot-long Claymore sword named Angela, a homage to his late mother. On Saturday, the two-time champion will also carry the hopes of redemption as the global entertainment company pulls into Las Vegas and MGM Grand Garden Arena with its Money In The Bank, one of its biggest events of the year.
WWE has some making up with Las Vegas fans to do as the pay-per-view was originally scheduled to be held at the much larger Allegiant Stadium, home of the Raiders, and host of last year’s record breaking SummerSlam.
Instead, Money in the Bank is taking place on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
On May 26, the company sent an email to ticket holders issuing refunds, and informing fans, if they purchased tickets to the show already, they would have first dibs on buying seats in the new venue.
Just across the road on The Strip, UFC 276 also takes place that night at T-Mobile Arena. Headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier, the event anchors International Fight Week.
The switch in venues presents a noticeable impact on potential ticket sales. Allegiant Stadium has a listed capacity of 65,000. The MGM Grand Garden Arena’s capacity is 17,000.
McItyre is unbothered by the change in locations. He’s embracing the opportunity to showcase in one of the world’s most iconic sports venues.
“I’m on the road 52 weeks of the year. I’ve been all over the universe wrestling in rings in so many cities. The MGM is a special one though. I grew up watching boxing happening at the MGM Grand headlined by Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, and so many others. It’s an honor to have my name associated with it.”
The journey has been a long, and interesting one for the 37-year-old. When he sat down with LVSportBiz.com’s nine-year-old reporter, Braxton Selvey, he shared how at age six, he was already clear on where his life would take him.
“I had a family meeting and told my parents I was going to be a WWE champion.” Dedicated to achieving that goal, McIntyre said, “I sacrificed hanging out with my friends, and at the age of 15, I started seriously training.”
Born Andrew McLean Galloway, the WWE Superstar traveled 12 hours most days to train, and when he was barely 18, he became the youngest man to sign a WWE contract. You don’t make it to the top of the heap of wrestling entertainment without facing a significant amount of adversity.
“All it takes is all you got,” says McIntyre, addressing how he stayed prepared to overcome challenges as a WWE Superstar. “I’ve won titles, lost them, got injured, and faced a lot of personal challenges too. My life has been an open book for fans.”
For McIntyre, remaining laser-focused in a company whose roster can be unforgiving with its revolving door of talent is a challenge. Dubbed the Chosen One, McIntyre was actually unceremoniously “unchosen” and released from WWE in 2014.
“That’s the thing with this business. You can be the best athlete in the world, have all the accolades, but if you don’t stay laser focused, it can all be taken away from you. Nobody owes you anything in this world. You have to go out and earn it,” McIntyre said.
During his second tenure with the company, that’s what he’s intent on doing just that — earning back his stripes.
Coming out of the pandemic, WWE provided a blueprint for Las Vegas-based UFC to produce shows while most states in the country were locked down and closed for events business. McIntyre became money in the bank for the company throughout that time, and wrestled more matches in WWE than any other performer in 2021.
In a moment of reflection, the earnest superstar acknowledged, “I was given a lot of opportunity early in my career. It almost came too easy for me. So, when I was let go, I had to re-establish perspective and work my way back. Sometimes you have to lose something in life to appreciate it.”
The Champion Ambassador for Special Olympics candidly added, “I learned how important mental health is for everybody. It’s ok to ask for help when you need it too. Nobody should be ashamed of that.”
The five-time professional wrestling champion recounts promising his family that no matter where wrestling took him, he’d honor a commitment to pursue education. He earned a master’s degree in criminology from Glasgow Caledonian University.
Criminology makes sense for a guy who was inspired by an article on America’s Freedom of Information Act and requested documents from the FBI. Except, he was a mere 11-year-old at the time. His precociousness led to an early connection with a long-held Las Vegas obsession on a topic that has local angle — UFOs. McIntyre filled out a sample letter asking for documents on UFOs and alien contact. When it arrived, most of the information was redacted. Still, at 11, a stack of paperwork arriving from the FBI was more than concerning for his parents.
When Braxton, our young reporter, inquired further about one of McIntyre’s favorite shows, Quantum Leap, focused on time travel and righting past wrongs, the WWE Superstar responded, “If given the chance, I wouldn’t change a thing. Every great moment in my life is a direct result of anything difficult I had to go through to get there.”
McIntyre will join Seth “Freakin” Rollins Omos, Sami Zayn, and one of his biggest rivals, Sheamus, in the Men’s Money in the Bank Contract Ladder Match. Also appearing is former UFC champion, turned WWE star Ronda Rousey to defend her SmackDown Women’s title against Natalya.
Tickets to Money in The Bank are still available at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office. The PPV is available through the Peacock streaming service.
