Backstage Update On Drew McIntyre-LA Knight Beef Following WWE SmackDown Confrontation

Beyond the winners of the titular matches themselves, one of the biggest stories coming out of WWE Royal Rumble 2025 was the one involving Drew McIntyre, who reportedly exploded in frustration backstage after his elimination from the men's Rumble match didn't go off as planned. The culprit in McIntyre's mind appeared to be LA Knight, who "had to get [his] moves in" and delayed McIntyre being tossed out at the hands of Damian Priest, thus dampening the impact of the elimination — which was meant to kick off a WrestleMania feud. Knight had some choice words for McIntyre in his promo on Friday's "WWE SmackDown" — including the line "Oh wait, I forgot to get my stuff in" before closing with his catchphrase — and the two appeared to be getting a little more physical than strictly necessary during their subsequent triple threat match with Jimmy Uso, leading many fans to wonder if Knight and McIntyre still have beef with one another.

According to Fightful Select, however, professionalism has prevailed over the heat of the moment. While Fightful's sources admitted that the story leaking "wasn't ideal," they also said there was no concern about Knight and McIntyre working together, with most seeing the leak as an opportunity to play off real-life frustrations, which the wrestlers accomplished. McIntyre reportedly had no issues with Knight's promo and there were no problems between them after the match. Fightful also noted that the first part of Knight's promo — an earnest PSA about it being okay to cry — was meant to be taken seriously while also serving as a transition into Knight taking shots at McIntyre.

McIntyre ultimately pinned Knight to win the "SmackDown" match, earning a spot in the men's Elimination Chamber alongside (so far) his deadly rival CM Punk and the imminently retiring John Cena.