Interview

WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre is ready to put on an unforgettable performance at SummerSlam next month ... telling TMZ Sports he's expecting a hard-hitting battle with Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship.

McIntyre is fresh off a three-month hiatus to "get some things fixed physically" ... and he says he'll hopefully be ready for the task ahead, 'cause his opponent is an "incredible competitor."

"I'm excited to get a big match with him," the 38-year-old Scottish Warrior says. "We were part of a triple-threat at WrestleMania, which was one of the best matches I've ever had, one of the funnest matches I've ever had."

"He is a hard-hitting guy, I'm a hard-hitting guy -- I guarantee you, everyone watching SummerSlam is going to feel the strikes in that match."

Currently in his second run with WWE, McIntyre is looking forward to recreating previous magic in the ring against the longtime IC champ at Ford Field on Aug. 5.

The former WWE Champion -- who once held the Intercontinental title almost 14 years ago -- says Gunther has helped re-establish the IC championship as a premier title like the days of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.

McIntyre is happy to be back in the ring after the longest absence of his wrestling career ... saying the time away allowed him to focus on his personal life out in the real world.

"Sometimes you lose that perspective, and the last time I really had a hard look at myself outside the bubble was 2014 when I got fired from WWE."

McIntyre continued ... "So this time, I didn't have to get fired, thank goodness. I had some time off, and I was able to sit down, reassess things -- things I want to achieve within the industry and as a person and return with that mindset and come right into a huge match that I'm really excited for."

The British brute is hoping to become champion once again in Detroit ... and he's telling all fans -- and newcomers -- to tune in.

If and when Bronny James needs advice on how to come back from a scary heart issue ... Ronny Turiaf, one of LeBron's old basketball pals, tells TMZ Sports he'll be there no questions asked for the teenager.

Turiaf, of course, famously underwent open heart surgery back in 2005 ... after docs found he had an enlarged aortic root. The procedure was terrifying -- it lasted hours ... and the former NBA player didn't know if he'd ever be able to hoop again even when he made it through it successfully.

But, he went on to recover fully ... playing 10 years in the NBA -- including one championship season with LBJ in Miami in 2011-12.

Now, Turiaf tells us he's more than willing to provide a helping hand for James' oldest son when it comes time for the USC star to try to get back on the hardwood following his heart scare on Monday.

"If Bronny ever wants to talk, I'm sure that I'll be more than happy to talk to him," Turiaf said on Tuesday, the 18th anniversary of his own heart procedure. "If at any given time he wants to talk, I'm always available."

TMZ broke the story ... Bronny was raced to a local hospital on Monday after he collapsed during a workout on SC's campus. Thankfully, he was able to be treated following the cardiac arrest ... and now, he's out of the ICU and recovering.

While it's unclear what ailment ultimately caused the issue for Bronny ... Turiaf was optimistic it'll all work out going forward.

The lightweight title isn't on the line in the UFC 291 main event, but the "iconic" BMF belt is ... and Justin Gaethje wants it!

TMZ Sports spoke to the 34-year-old UFC star ahead of his scrap with Dustin Poirier on July 29 ... and the Baddest Mother F****r belt is on the line. We asked Gaethje if he cared about the strap.

"I think [the belt is] really iconic," Justin said.

"There's only been two guys in the world that have ever fought for it. We'll be the two out of four guys now. And I think it's, it does great things for the legacy, that's ultimately what we're here to build is a legacy. Make money. That's there. And, you know, it catapults us right into the championship talk. So it's perfect."

FYI, only Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal have fought for the belt ... which was created for them. Gamebred won that November 2019 fight by TKO ... and that's the last time the belt was on the line.

It'll be a rematch for Dustin and Justin ... the guys fought in a Fight Night card in April 2018. DP beat JG by 4th round TKO. It was just Gaethje's third UFC fight.

"It's part of my journey. It's something that I'll cherish forever, but you know, I don't think it's a huge factor," Gaethje said of the first fight's impact on UFC 291, adding ... "It's five years ago."

"We both grown so much and we've both been in some huge fights since that day. So yeah, I think it's again something that I'll always cherish, but it's not something that I'm using to game plan for this fight."

We also Justin where he believes a win would leave him in his quest for the 155-pound title.

"I'm not too worried about that right now. [Dustin's] the number two-ranked guy in the world. I'm the number three-ranked guy in the world. I think no matter what it's a given that the winner of this fight, we either fight the winner of the [Islam Makhachev-Charles Oliveira]. And if one of us is able to go in there and get a quick knockout and take no damage, then there's a slight possibility that maybe we'll be ready for October."

Makhachev and Oliveira are fighting at UFC 294 on October 21 in Abu Dhabi.

Carlee Russell's "disappearance," which cops can't confirm actually happened, could have a negative impact on people of color who really do vanish ... but one organization wants to make sure that doesn't happen.

Natalie Wilson, co-founder of Black & Missing Foundation, tells TMZ ... the details police provided this week about Carlee's alleged disappearance were certainly disappointing to hear, but shouldn't set a precedent for similar cases.

She says her org has been working hard the past 15 years, lending a hand to families whose loved ones' cases don't make headlines -- and Natalie doesn't want Carlee's example to knock down all that progress.

Natalie feels something good did come out of the Carlee story, though ... telling us the country really came together to bring awareness to her case, and hopes that same energy can be put into finding others.

As we reported, police said they found searches for Amber Alerts, taking money from a register and the movie "Taken" on Carlee's phone -- and those were all in the days and hours before she went off the grid last week.

Plus, they added there's no evidence to support her claim of seeing a child get abducted.

Ben McKenzie says celebrities should not be selling digital currencies ... instead, he says they should stick to the usual stuff, like overpriced water, so folks won't go belly up.

The former "O.C." star joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him about the huge ad blitz from celebs who were pushing crypto during the Super Bowl and beyond ... only for the market to crash.

Ben's since written a book about the rise and fall of crypto, "Easy Money," and he's got some strong opinions ... like how celebrities should never be giving financial advice.

Ben thinks all the folks featured in those Super Bowl ads for crypto ... like Tom Brady, Lindsay Lohan, and Larry David, just to name a few ... would be better served selling car insurance, soap and H2O.

For Ben, the big difference here is the unregulated status of cryptocurrency ... plus the fact celebs are not licensed financial advisors ... and he feels Hollywood contributed to what he sees as the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Tons of folks lost money when the crypto boom went bust and lots of folks got sued ... and Ben says fraudsters used the lure of celebrities to reel in marks.

Mark Zuckerberg is getting the ultimate stamp of approval from the world's best pound-for-pound MMA fighter ... with featherweight G.O.A.T. Alex Volkanovski giving a personal guarantee that Zuck's ability would impress even his most ardent critic.

Volkanovski joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and talked about his recent training session with the Meta CEO in Northern California.

"I guarantee you, you guys would be very surprised," Alex said of Zuck's aptitude on the mat.

Of course, we've seen Mark train in the past ... but what really took people by storm was his physique in a shirtless photo he posed for along with Alex and friend/gym-mate, Israel Adesanya.

"As you can see from that photo, I think that's what raised a lot of eyebrows, he's in shape," Volk said ... but it's not just about vanity, the muscles are functional.

"I mean you can see it that he's in shape but he really is in shape. It's not just looks, he really is, mate. He trains, he's pretty athletic, he's coordinated and he's committed," Alex explained, adding, "He's got a passion for it."

As for whether Zuck gave Volk any inside information on the fight ... the UFC champ clearly believes Mark is training for a reason.

"Man, I'm telling you he's serious. I don't know how serious Elon is, but I'm telling you, he's training!"

There's more ... we also talked to Volkanovski about his latest title defense against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 -- another dominating performance.

It'll be nearly 1,000 days between trips to the Octagon for Stipe Miocic, but the former UFC heavyweight champ isn't approaching his scrap with Jon Jones any differently than his two dozen previous fights, telling us the mindset's to beat "Bones" Jones to a pulp!

Miocic joined Mojo Muhtadi on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and talked about his highly anticipated tilt with Jon, going down at UFC 295 on November 11 at Madison Square Garden.

"Finally here. This is a fight I wanted for a very long time, the only fight I wanted, and I finally got it. Nothing better than Madison Square Garden," Stipe said, adding "The venue is just amazing, pretty pumped!"

As for whether 40-year-old Miocic has been slowed down by age and time away from the cage, Miocic says he "feels good," and has simply "listened to his body more" as he's gotten older.

"Mindset's still I'm gonna go out there and do my thing and beat that ass!"

Of course, Jones has only one fight at heavyweight ... albeit, an absolutely dominating performance against one of the top title contenders, Ciryl Gane, at UFC 285 in March, where Jon won by 1st round submission.

Stipe says the fight was just too quick (only took JJ 2 minutes against CG) to extract much useful info -- how Jones will fight as a heavyweight -- as opposed to the lion's share of his career, which was spent in the LHW division.

"His last fight really didn't go that long. So it was very hard to judge what he was doing, but I mean, it's Jon Jones, man. He got a lot of tricks up his sleeves. Real good. He's veteran. He knows what to do."

But ... "I mean, I've had a lot of fights and I know what to do as well."

November can't come soon enough!

Jeezy knows not all moguls are created equally ... which is why he feels the story behind his success probably resonates with the common man better than billionaires like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk.

The trap rap king joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to explain why his new book, "Adversity For Sale: Ya Gotta Believe" offers better keys to success for the average American than most "get rich" books.

Jeezy's leaning in to his early days as a young hustler on the streets of Atlanta -- but says, even back then, he had an idea about where he wanted to end up ... and how music would help him get achieve that.

Along the way, he became one of the biggest forces to ever dominate hip hop ... yet, Jeezy told us he's always been entrepreneurially minded, succeeding in real estate, business ownership and philanthropy. He says rap just happens to be what got his foot in the door.

He hopes his book will influence inner-city youth living in violent surroundings, and show them there is a path to prosperity for them.

Brandon Royval believes he's next in line for a title shot at flyweight, welcome news for the UFC contender, who says he's clearly the best in the division after watching Alexandre Pantoja beat Brandon Moreno at UFC 290!

30-year-old Royval served as the backup to the co-main event between AP and BM -- training and cutting weight, in the event either of the competitors couldn't fight -- and while he hasn't been told he's next, Royval says his team thinks that's the case.

"I haven't been told necessarily anything," Brandon told us ... "As far as my management team goes, he's like, 'I'm pretty positive you're next, who else, you know? Which is pretty dope because me and Moreno have the same management team."

FYI, both men are repped by Iridium Sports CEO Jason House.

Of course, a rematch between Pantoja and Moreno is also on the table ... but as Royval points out, the guys have already fought three times (2016, 2018, 2023), and the score is 3 to nill.

Not to mention Royval doesn't believe the fight with Moreno was very close, saying he scored it four rounds to one for Alexandre ("I thought the judges f***ed up").

As for how a scrap would look between Royval and Pantoja -- despite losing to AP in 2021 via submission -- Brandon thinks he's got a big-time advantage, and it's his fight to lose.

"There's holes all over all their games," Royval said.

"Watching them fight, I'm like, 'Damn, this could be great for me. They could be walking into some dangerous shots and putting themselves in dangerous positions.'"

The takeaway, Brandon says ... "I know I could be both those guys."

With that said, if it sounds like there's beef between Royval, Moreno, and Pantoja ... that's not the case.

BR says he was touched emotionally by Alexandre's win ... that's how special it was to see him realize his lifelong dream of becoming champion.

"F***ing awesome job," Royval said of AP's performance, adding ... "The moments I've had with Pantoja outside the cage have been such beautiful moments. And that guy's such a good person. Same thing with Moreno."

Brandon continued ... "What a beautiful moment, man. And to watch him win and to watch his family go in and to hear him say what he said was such a beautiful, inspiring moment in my life."

Boxer Otto Wallin spent 12 rounds in the squared circle with Tyson Fury ... and given that experience, the Swedish boxer believes Francis Ngannou has virtually no chance of beating the Gypsy King!

TMZ Sports talked to 32-year-old Wallin after the Fury vs. Ngannou bout was announced on Tuesday ... where we got Otto's thoughts on the matchup.

"Tyson is the best heavyweight fighter in the world in boxing. Ngannou might be the best at MMA at heavyweight. So this fight is gonna be at boxing so you obviously gotta favor Fury a lot. [Tyson's] fighting someone that's making his pro debut as a boxer really. It's a whole different sport, and as difficult as it'll be for Fury to go over to MMA, it's gonna be the same for Ngannou. So of course Fury's gonna be a big favorite."

Because Fury has an immense skill advantage in the boxing ring, Wallin believes Ngannou must use his strength to make the fight as ugly as possible.

"[Francis] can't box him really. He needs to really make it a fight. A dogfight. Take it to Fury. Rough him up," Otto told us.

"He's gotta go in there and use what he has. He's a strong guy, so try to push Fury around, and try to land punches that he can, cause he can't be there in a boxing match. He can't just stand a long distance and try to box 'cause then he's gonna be picked apart."

And, Wallin knows what he's talking about.

Remember, Tyson and Otto fought at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in September 2019 ... where Fury won by unanimous decision. But, that doesn't begin to tell the story of the fight ... which certainly could've been stopped because of an awful gash on TF's head.

His cut man did an amazing job managing the cut, and Tyson ended up winning a close fight. In fact, it's the last Fury bout that went to the judges. Since Otto, the Gypsy King has stopped heavyweight stars Deontay Wilder (twice) and Dillian Whyte (Derek Chisora, too).

As for his prediction, Wallin sees a knockout on the horizon.

Will his prediction ring true?

Alex Volkanovski says he's totally focused on defending his featherweight title against interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 ... but openly admits there's a fight he wants in the future -- a rematch with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev!

"Obviously I've got to go do my thing. I'm focused 100% on Yair, but obviously, I want that rematch," Volk told TMZ Sports.

"Then you've got guys like Ilia's [Topuria] name gets thrown out there, and whoever it is I'm gonna turn up cause I wanna be active, that's that. It's pretty simple with me. Ya know people aren't gonna be waiting long, but it just depends on who the UFC wants, but obviously I want that rematch."

Of course, Alex and Islam fought at UFC 284 in February, a fight AV lost by unanimous decision. However, that doesn't exactly tell the full story ... many fans felt Volkanovski actually won the fight, and should've been double champ.

First things first, Alex, who is a sizeable favorite (around -380), has to beat Yair if he wants to be double champ. On the other side of things is Rodriguez ... who won the interim title in a fight with Josh Emmett (also at UFC 284).

Yair, like Alex, badly wants this win ... and says he's ready to go to extreme lengths.

"I accept anything that comes with [the fight]. I understand the sport and more than being prepared to win this fight, I'm ready to f****** die, and that's one of the things you've got to be prepared for every time that you step in the cage," Rodriguez says.

"Many people go in there only thinking I'm winning, I'm winning. I go in there with many fears, but also I beat my fears every single day. So I'm ready to die."

There's more -- we also talked to the men scrapping in the co-main event, Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja, who are fighting for a third time.

Pantoja, the #2 ranked contender, beat the flyweight champion twice ... but those fights were years ago.

Moreno says he's out to prove ... a lot has happened since 2018.

Jaron "Boots" Ennis will be watching the Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence super fight with a VERY close eye this month ... because he tells TMZ Sports he feels he should be the one who gets to take on the winner.

"I believe I'm the best option," the 30-0 Philly fighter said. "I feel like everybody wants to see me versus Spence or me versus Bud. I don't think they want to see nobody else fight them."

Of course, there's a long line of boxers who feel the same way ... but Ennis told us he "definitely" deserves the shot first.

The mega fight is slated to go down on July 29 in Las Vegas ... but even if Boots is in the running to get a taste of either boxer -- Spence and Crawford reportedly have agreed to a rematch clause that could mean they'll be fighting one more time in 2023 before they open things up to challengers.

But, Ennis sure seems willing to wait regardless ... telling us an eventual fight with the victor is his goal.

AEW star Anthony Bowens says the outpouring of support he's received following his viral "I'm gay" moment at Rampage last week has been incredible ... telling TMZ Sports he hopes it serves as inspiration for those who fear being themselves.

Bowens -- who came out in 2017 -- had fans going wild after making a joke about his sexuality in the ring in a response to Harley Cameron ... after she claimed she could tell the Acclaimed tag-team member was into her.

"Very, very serious question," Bowens responded to the Australian commentator. "Did you get kicked too many times in the head by a kangaroo when you were a kid?? Because I don't know if you can see my gear, lady ... I'm gay!!"

The whole crowd erupted in encouragement ... chanting "He's gay!!"

We spoke with Bowens about how special it was to be his true self inside the ring and get that sort of response from the fans ... and he said the whole experience was surreal.

"I wish I could go back and tell 17, 18, 19-year-old Anthony Bowens that everything would be okay, because I spent a lot of time, a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety of what my career would be if I ever came out," Bowens tells us.

"And to fast forward and to have that moment and to have that reaction I did -- I've been getting messages every single day from people all over the world, from other athletes thanking me just for simply saying it."

"People, a lot of times, either just insinuate it or maybe make it a joke -- I was like, screw it!! You just gotta say it sometimes."

Even though the exchange was silly, it is a major step in the right direction for the LGBTQ+ community ... and Bowens understands the gravity of the situation.

"I think it struck a chord with a lot of people and I couldn't be any more thrilled."

Pete Davidson and Colin Jost seemingly bought a ferry together as a joke -- but, now one of those new owners says turning a profit on the damn thing is of the utmost importance.

The 'SNL' alum dished about the $280k Staten Island boat buy with Seth Meyers on a recent podcast episode -- in which he goes into detail about what led up to him partnering with Colin on this in the first place ... and where things stand now more than a year after.

Take a listen for yourself ... Pete acknowledges what he's said about going in on this ferry in the first place -- namely, that he and CJ were both stoned out of their minds when they decided to do it.

Before long, the purchase became reality ... and Pete says Colin called him up one day to talk business -- and to collect on his end of the bargain. PD says he was sent a link to wire over a deposit ... and suddenly, he was straddled with a massive ferry with no real plan.

Not to worry, though ... Pete and Colin have apparently devised a business model for their ferry that they're hoping to manifest -- including turning it into a one-stop shop entertainment hub ... complete with a concert venue, a movie theater, a restaurant and hotel rooms too.

Pete even says he and Colin have commissioned computer-generated mockups of all this ... and says it's well underway, although it's still years in the making. Like, 5 years specifically.

When Seth Meyers marvels at how well thought out their ferry future is, Pete quips -- "Yeah, we have to cause we’re in the hole." To what extent, exactly, is unclear ... but it seems Pete and co. certainly wanna get a return on investment -- because as he says, "Now I'm like stuck with a f****ing boat."

XXL Freshman alum K Camp fully understands Ice Spice's decision to skip this year's Freshman cover photo shoot -- but still recommends she keep a steady pace in the unforgiving rap game.

We linked with the Rare Sound CEO outside of Dash Radio this week, where he acknowledged Ice's red-hot rookie run. He tells us every rapper must choose their own path, but with Ice checking off all the boxes, she'll be good going forward.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... the "Munch" rapper forfeited her XXL Freshman spot after she started getting booked for shows, left and right -- several festival gigs and a full tour supporting Doja Cat -- and couldn't lock in with all the mags requirements.

That being said, K Camp says blowing up too fast can hurt an artist, as the public can eventually grow tired and move on rather quickly.

Camp was in the 2015 XXL Freshman class, and admits it helped his career -- he signed to a major label and racked up several Platinum plaques.

He also told us no XXL class -- this year or even his -- can top the 2010s with J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, and Freddie Gibbs!!!

Harrison Ford might be 80 years old, but the guy's not ready to hang it up in Hollywood just yet ... in fact, it sounds like he'll continue acting for as long as he can.

The legendary actor was chopping it up with Chris Wallace on a forthcoming episode of his show, and CW asked him straight up ... any thoughts on retiring??? Obviously, the question is being posed because of Harrison's age -- but check out his initial reaction ... he scoffs!

HF follows that up with an interesting point -- namely, he says he doesn't do well without something to do, like professional work on a movie/TV set. The reason for that, he says, is that he likes to feel useful. Not just that, but he apparently gets a thrill out it ... being helpful and of service. Sounds like he's saying ... as long as he can do that, he'll keep going.

Harrison also explains what he loves about productions in general -- and, to him, it's the feeling of bringing something to life, with everyone having a common goal. What's more, he says he never actually plans out how he'll react to scenes ... and just lets it play out naturally.

There's another clip from this interview that's making the rounds as well -- and it's all about Harrison insisting on how he doesn't play "heroes" ... but, more so, regular people who do heroic things. It's pretty interesting to hear him talk about that ... he's pretty passionate.

FWIW, he's actually about to play a superhero in some upcoming Marvel projects ... dude's been cast to portray Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, who eventually becomes Red Hulk.