Drew McIntyre Talks Crowd Support, Royal Rumble And Competing With NXT
Photo Credit: Bill Pritchard
Drew McIntyre recently talked to TV Insider about his recent character changes. He also spoke about the Royal Rumble match and how NXT has changed the main roster.
Check out highlights below:
On his recent character changes:
I didn’t ever say I was a good guy or bad guy. The thing now is that I’m giving them a little more of the real me. When I first came back to RAW, I was serious all the time. I was talking about eating carcasses and the like is not necessarily the real me. I was a strong bad guy for the good guys to wrestle. I had a lot of big moments including at WrestleMania. Over the past couple of months it was made clear to me by the boss himself, Paul Heyman and all of creative that they wanted me to show them the real me.
When I got the okay to finally be myself, that’s when I started loosening up out there and having fun. I started to show Drew Galloway, the real me. The one who was successful outside the company and wound up successful in NXT. I think when the crowd saw me relaxing and having fun, they started having fun with me. That’s the key there. In the past they couldn’t relate to this giant, hairy, scary Scotsman that beats people up all the time. They see my personality. What you are seeing now on TV is the real me.
How NXT made WWE more competitive:
When I first came back to WWE I was in NXT. The first thing I said is that this was not developmental. I was in developmental. I was in OVW and FCW. That was developmental. This is truly a third brand. With television, nobody can deny it. I look at it now as a war between the three brands. You have that mindset to want your show to be number one in the ring and creative. With NXT having such high level talent, everyone should try to up their game. If you’re not, then you don’t belong.
The challenges of the Royal Rumble:
Upping your cardio is one way. It’s nonstop strikes and trying to put someone over-the-top rope and a lot of movement. It’s a lot of moments where you can’t catch your breath. So, if you’re in there for a long time, you better be excellent at cardio. Ir really enjoy the Rumble matches. For someone like myself, it goes back to my striking days. Back when I just beat people up with strikes. There is going to be a chop party in that Royal Rumble. A lot of people are going to be terrified when they see me coming out.
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