Drew McIntyre is set for the biggest match of his career at WrestleMania 36 when he challenges Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.
Though Lesnar and McIntyre haven't come face-to-face in recent weeks, on the Mar. 2 episode of WWE Raw, McIntyre laid out Lesnar with multiple Claymore Kicks. And speaking to Alex McCarthy of TalkSPORT, McIntyre praised Lesnar for making him look good in the lead up to WrestleMania.
"In my experience, Brock has gone above and beyond to ensure I look as good as I can possibly look. I?m still trying to get over the fact that a few weeks ago that they pointed out that Ricochet gave me the assist at the Rumble, they ran me down on the microphone a little bit. Generally, Paul Heyman builds them up to sell the opponent for Brock?s match, but it was the opposite this time. Paul ran me down, almost like ?wait a minute, are we worried about this guy??"
McIntyre continued, "Then I walked out, looked Brock in the eye and dropped him three times. And, I?m sure you probably noticed, one of those kicks wasn?t necessarily planned! He went out of his way ? he felt the crowd because that?s how good he is and I?m a professional. There were no physical cues so we just kept going. And I was like, ?Wow, this guy is unbelievable? and I?m glad I?m at a level where I can read him at the same time. We?re working together here and he?s more than willing to go overboard to make me look as good as possible and make me."
Lesnar was caught on camera during the Mar. 2 episode telling McIntyre to "pick up the title" after he had been laid out with the kicks.
McIntyre said of the moment, "I was so into it! But I didn?t forget that, he [Brock] felt that in the moment and said ?do it!? The camera just picked it up, but that?s how much he?s invested in this. He made that call because he felt the crowd. Nobody one, sells like Brock Lesnar and two, feels a crowd like Brock Lesnar. In my experience of anyone I?ve been in the ring with ? and even talking with him backstage ? in terms of learning it?s like wow? this guy gets it more than anybody I?ve ever spoken to. There?s a superstar level and being over level, and then there?s the elite level that very few people get to. Right now I?m doing all I can to get to that level because I want WWE to be as big as it can possibly be and I want those ratings to go back up. I?m like a kid in college again like I was with Shawn Michaels in NXT, taking notes. I want to get to that level."
Lesnar was on Monday's WWE Raw, standing in the ring while Paul Heyman delivered a promo aimed at McIntyre. During Heyman's promo, he claimed that Lesnar would "douche out" McIntyre.
If you missed anything from Monday's WWE Raw, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.