Matt Hardy has explained why he felt sad to see Drew McIntyre wrestle in front of no fans at WWE WrestleMania 36.

The COVID-19 pandemic took away one of the things that makes the pro wrestling business thrive: the fans. One person who suffered was McIntyre, who was meant to have his big moment following his win at the 2020 Royal Rumble. Instead of a stadium full of people cheering for him to become the WWE Champion, he did it at the Performance Center with no one to witness it live. Hardy recalled watching McIntyre at WrestleMania 36 and admitted on "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast that it was tough to see someone who worked so hard have their moment taken away from them.

"What can you do? It was rotten," Hardy said. "The pandemic was rotten across the board, as I say all the time, pro wrestling isn't pro wrestling without fans in attendance ... It sucks that Drew had busted his a**, he had traveled the world, he had hustled, he had got himself over, he got himself into the best shape in every single way, and then he got his big moment, his crowning achievement to win the world title, and then it happens at a pandemic, fan-less arena. It is what it is, all you can do at that point is just make the most of it and move on, but it did suck and it was very unfortunate, and I'm so happy that he was able to get that moment this year in front of fans."

McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar to begin his first of two reigns as WWE Champion at WrestleMania 36, in front of an empty arena. He finally had his moment of glory at WrestleMania earlier this year when he won the World Heavyweight Championship, but quickly lost it to Damian Priest.

Please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.