The WWE put on a great show for the people of Cardiff with Clash At The Castle and, by the end, Drew McIntyre wasn’t able to capture the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns. McIntyre was upset to have lost his title shot though, despite that sadness, he still had a song in his heart. In what might be one of the most bizarre in-ring moments of 2022, McIntyre got up following his crushing loss with the help of boxing champion Tyson Fury, and the two began to sing “Sweet Caroline” and “American Pie.” Now, thanks to some reported information, we may know why Clash At The Castle had such a bizarre ending.
News on Clash At The Castle’s bizarre ending came via Wrestling With Freddie, during which actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. shared some alleged details about why that happened. Apparently, the reason anyone watching with a Peacock premium subscription saw that impromptu singing performance was mainly due to the fact that no one officially ended the broadcast of the pay-per-view event:
The end of the match was weird because they forgot to say cut. I know this for a fact — I asked a couple of people. They left the feed running, and all of a sudden Drew McIntyre was feeling good, Tyson Fury came out to the ring, and they sang 'Sweet Caroline' after a loss. It was so weird.
To sum it all up from a storytelling perspective, Drew McIntyre's decision to sing to the crowd came after he lost a very close title match in his home continent’s biggest WWE event in decades. Not only that, but it seemed as though McIntyre would’ve been the new Universal Champion had it not been for the interference of one of the WWE’s newest call-ups, Solo Sikoa.
Freddie Prinze Jr.’s co-host, Jeff Dye, wasn’t a fan of the moment, which is honestly understandable. Dye shared his take, and it included a few more adjectives besides “bizarre”:
It was so corny and so stupid. And it made Fury and McIntyre look weird and unusual after a big loss like that.
For as weird as the sight was, it is worth noting that these kinds of moments are common following pay-per-view events, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown, and house shows. Wrestlers may address the crowd, lead them in song, or even do something a little goofy and out-of-character. With that said, these are often situations that won’t be shown during the official broadcast, as they tend to draw scrutiny like we're seeing right now.
Assuming the information about Clash At The Castle’s broadcast is true, one has to imagine that the WWE might make sure that’s handled by the time the next pay-per-view rolls around. New head of creative Triple H is getting a lot of flowers for the changes he’s made after Vince McMahon’s retirement, though I’m not sure this will be a change fans will want to see going forward.
At the same token, I’m not sure anyone would be as upset about it had it occurred outside of the official broadcast. In fact, I’m sure a lot of Cardiff attendees appreciated leaving with a reason to smile after seeing the dominant American champion defeat the European challenger, simply grabbing the win due to cheating. And for those who don’t care as much about the story, it was pretty funny to see Drew McIntyre try to lead the crowd in song and put Tyson Fury on the spot to join in. Maybe this will lead to some running joke and get referenced at a later date. Fury was rumored to return to the WWE at some point after all (his rumored opponent was pretty wild to imagine), so that would be a perfect time to poke fun at this weird moment.
Recap all of the fun of the WWE’s Clash At The Castle event by picking up a premium subscription to Peacock. With so many exciting shifts happening in wrestling as of late, now is as good of a time as any to get into it and see why so many are excited about the brand’s new direction.
