Drew McIntyre recently spoke with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes at this link. Konuwa sent us the following highlights from the interview:
Possibly Missing out on a WrestleMania Moment with Fans for a Second Straight Year:
“I thought ‘Crap! After all this hard work, after all these main events, all these crazy matches I’ve done—am I gonna be able to get my moment at WrestleMania with the fans? Since then I’ve been working my butt off and making some noise, but at the same time, Lashley’s stepped up big time, he’s been making some big noise and he’s stepped into that role unbelievably.”
His WrestleMania 37 Match with Bobby Lashley:
“I am so excited about this match for a number of reasons. People are talking, that’s what I care about most,” said McIntyre.
“A few of the matches I was involved in, I was trying to pull people up—Randy Orton, obviously, I had to step up to him—but a few times I was trying to pull people up. Right now, I’ve cemented my name this past year, Lashley has stepped up so much this year, we’re both [at the same level], people are talking about this match and that’s the most important thing. Whoever’s side you’re on, that’s cool, as long as you’re invested.”
“This is two people who have worked their butts off, for almost 20 years apiece, to get to the top of the card; who were destined for greatness in our early years, left the company—worked so hard to get back to the company.”
Wanting WrestleMania to always be on two nights, why he wants to headline Night 2:
“WrestleMania is amazing, but sometimes it’s a bit much,” said McIntyre.
“It’s huge, it’s a spectacle, it’s unbelievable, there’s no show like it on earth. But sometimes it goes about seven hours, and even the most passionate, loyal fan in the world gets a bit hoarse after maybe four or five hours. So, if you’re able to give everyone a whole weekend of WrestleMania—especially in the future, when we start traveling, and they’re just going to have an amazing weekend planned, and you get one night of a few hours of amazing action; then perhaps you want to do the second of a few hours of amazing action—you get that energy from beginning to end, I think the two days really is a cool thing and I hope we stick with it going into the future.”
“If I had to pick where I wanted to be, I would obviously pick the last match of the second night just like last year,” McIntyre continued.
“You can be the main event of Night 1, but the main event of Night 2 is the final, final match. That’s what people talk about. You’re looking to send people home with a smile on their face—or, the people watching at home end the night with a big smile on their face. I got the chance to do it last year, and I hope I get the chance to do it this year. Or, perhaps Lashley’s got crazy momentum, maybe they’ll be frowning after my moment.”
His apparent shot at AEW on WWE Raw:
“Everyone seems to think ‘writers are gonna put all this together,’” they don’t. Drew McIntyre’s out there, and I’ve got no idea what I’m gonna say and I kind of say how I feel,”
“I saw [MVP] saying the “guarantee” thing, and I thought to myself ‘everyone always says guarantee, and when you say guarantee you really gotta back up that, you’ve gotta deliver on your guarantees. What can I say out there that I can guarantee? Sheamus and I are literally going to beat the absolute hell out of each other, and it’s gonna hurt. I might as well tell the truth.’”
“I went out there, I said that, and I [heard] ‘sparks fly’ come out my mouth. I didn’t think twice about it, I just rolled right through it, I said my whole interview and watched the match ringside—which was an awesome match—and I came back, and somebody came up to me and said ‘I saw what you did there.’ ‘What did I do?’ And then they played it out to me and I went ‘oh, yeah, that could be taken that way,’” said McIntyre.
“Maybe subconsciously I made a joke…I don’t like that shot back-and-forth stuff, I don’t see the point, it’s not good for business.”
The Claymore Kick and Leg Slapping in WWE:
“For the general fans, if you’re good enough that you can do it—like a Shawn Michaels—then you’re not gonna catch it.”
“It’s become so blatant at times, that I think you’ve got to pick and choose your moments. But, when it comes to the Claymore—let me explain how the Claymore works—people said to me ‘you’re slapping your leg,’ that’s not the case with the Claymore,”
“When I raise my leg, and kick forward, you’ve got a 6’6, 270-pound man jumping and kicking you. I’ve got a very strong shoulder, so when I’m throwing that kick and I also put some shoulder behind it, I’m just adding force. So, you see, it’s not really a leg slap for me, it’s just extra force.”
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