WWE shafted Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 40 and Clash at the Castle with big losses in a pair of marquee title matches—but he got a modicum of revenge at Money in the Bank 2024.
The Scottish superstar and former three-time world champion won the men’s Money in the Bank match, outlasting a star-studded field and pulling down the coveted briefcase to earn a guaranteed future world title bout. While that may not have been quite the same as leaving WrestleMania as world champion or winning the title in his home country of Scotland, that had to feel good for McIntyre.
Dating back to September 2022 at the inaugural Clash at the Castle event, McIntyre had seen the world title ripped from his grasp on several occasions. Just last month at Clash at the Castle, it was a returning CM Punk—McIntyre’s longtime nemesis—who cost him in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Damian Priest, and McIntyre and Punk are reportedly slated to wrestle in one of the marquee matches at SummerSlam.
Entering Money in the Bank, there was widespread speculation that Punk, just as he did in Glasgow, would show up at Money in the Bank in Toronto and ensure that McIntyre once again fell short in his championship quest. Though that booking would have been predictable, it also would have been logical given that Punk has vowed that he will continue to shaft McIntyre over and over again until their score is settled.
Punk and McIntyre have had arguably WWE’s best and most heated feud of 2024, so Punk yet again costing McIntyre at Money in the Bank would have been perfectly sensible. But WWE threw fans a curveball when McIntyre actually did win the men’s MITB briefcase, despite plenty of fan support hinting at a potential victory for a star like Jey Uso or LA Knight.
Knight, however, is reportedly slated for a United States title match against Logan Paul at SummerSlam while Uso looks like he could soon be reinserted to The Bloodline’s cinematic saga. With other MITB contenders like Chad Gable and Andrade not booked well enough to be a true world title threat, WWE made the wise choice to go with the safest bet of six competitors in McIntyre.
Over the past year-plus, McIntyre has been so intent on becoming—and staying—world champion that having him hold the Money in the Bank briefcase is the perfect way for WWE to ensure that he’s always a mere three seconds away from reinserting him back into the title picture without always having to be in it.
McIntyre’s bitter rivalry with Punk is far from over, and that should keep him busy for the foreseeable future. But this is just a friendly reminder that the MITB briefcase is good for a full year, which gives WWE plenty of time to book the ideal situation for McIntyre to win a world title when it makes the most sense.
Whether that’s at tonight’s Money in the Bank—as McIntyre himself said it would be—or later this week, this month or next year, WWE’s consistently strong booking should give fans reason to believe that McIntyre’s MITB victory will result in a significant storyline payoff down the road.
