Drew McIntyre addressed his status with WWE during an appearance on WWE The Bump.

"I’ve been gone for seven weeks now. I can tell everybody it wasn’t a bone break, it wasn’t a muscle tear, I was out for a specific reason. The last match I had was with Ricochet. You know he got the win and it turns out I was at 30% at the time. So Ricochet beat a 30% Drew McIntyre which is better than most people 100%, congratulations Ricochet, but I’ve been re-strategizing, refocusing and you’re going to see a whole new Drew McIntyre very, very soon. ‘First Round Pick’ Drew McIntyre."

"There’s a lot of things on the horizon for Drew McIntyre. Obviously The Universal Championship is number one. I’ve never had a shot at the Heavyweight Championship during my first run or second run and looking back, to be honest, I’m glad I didn’t. You know, his time has given me an opportunity to look at myself and what I did for the past year and a half. Most people would consider that, you know, moderately successful. I don’t. I’ve got a new gameplan, I’m gonna end up winning that title and I’m very excited the way things have worked out. With USA and Fox thing, for the first time in a long time since I remember, we actually have an opportunity for real competition. But like you said earlier, this is a declaration of war as far as I’m concerned."

"It used to be SmackDown vs. RAW on these tours and I remember we used to figure out like how much money the draw make. The Undertaker would tell us, “SmackDown made more on this tour” we’d all celebrate with cheers, we’d have a drink together. It was that team comradery that we beat RAW. Now it’s about to be that feeling again, RAW vs. SmackDown and that’s what I’m most excited about and we have a heck of a roster."