Drew McIntyre and Sheamus scored simultaneous pins in the fatal five-way match to determine Gunther’s challenger for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 39, as seen on this past Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown. One referee counted McIntyre’s Claymore pin on LA Knight, while another counted Sheamus’ brogue kick pin on Xavier Woods. McIntyre and Sheamus are now set to compete in a singles match on Friday’s episode of SmackDown to determine who is the number 1 contender for the IC title.
McIntyre almost missed the show, which would have caused WWE to change their creative plans, according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com. McIntyre was “extremely ill” last week and wasn’t cleared to wrestle until he arrived at the arena and was examined by WWE’s medical team.
McIntyre, who worked all of the live events following SmackDown, has earned a lot of respect for how hard he has worked for the company, even when he was sick or injured over the last year. He’s very much a locker room leader in that regard.