Drew McIntyre to India amid Covid-19: We are thinking of you, stay strong and be safe

Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania Backlash. Pic Courtesy/ PR

Former two-time WWE Champion and Royal Rumble 2020 winner Drew McIntyre faced Braun Strowman and WWE champion Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match at WrestleMania Backlash. McIntyre went on to lose the bout after he hit a Claymore on Strowman but was thrown out of the ring by Lashley only for the latter to pin Strowman and retain the WWE championship.

Ahead of his WrestleMania Backlash match, Drew McIntyre talked about performing in front of the fans, his thoughts on buddy Jinder Mahal's return, his top 3 WWE stars and also a special message for the people in India who are battling the Covid-19 crisis.

Excerpts:

How was it performing for the WWE Universe after a year?
It was awesome to be back in front of the WWE universe. We always say, they're our number one Superstar. They create the unique atmosphere of WWE, and I can only compare them to soccer fans. I've been to every sport in the world, how wild and passionate they are, and we were proven absolutely right. The second we didn't have the fans in the building. It wasn't easy not having that kind of energy in the building, but we still wanted to give everyone the best show possible. During the most difficult times, we've found new ways to reach our fans and connect with them at home around the world. Even when we didn't have the fans in the building, including pivoting into our WWE ThunderDome, which brought our fans back virtually so we could at least hear everybody over the speakers from across the world, but having them there live - it was amazing. You can just watch my entrance from the first match. Look at my face, look at the crowd's face and it says it all.

You lost to Bobby Lashley at WM. How was it different from your match against Lesnar?
I couldn't make a mistake. That was how I was going to put myself on top of the mountain and prove myself as a breakout WWE Superstar at the very top. And I didn't make a mistake and I got the job done in under five minutes and it was very successful for an entire year and a half. Against Lashley, somebody who was coming up in the same position as me, essentially the last WrestleMania I really wanted to prove myself, cement myself at the top of the mountain. He knew he couldn't make a mistake. And it was going to come down to who made the first mistake. Unfortunately, that was me. I allowed myself to be distracted for one second, allowed Lashley to put me to sleep. However, this past Monday on RAW, we saw that I promised I wasn't going to allow Lashley to distract me. I was going to hit a Claymore. That's exactly what I did before I got the chance to pin Lashley and right the wrong of WrestleMania. Braun stuck his big, stupid nose in everybody's business and attacked us both and attacked me from behind.

Your former 3MB teammate Jinder is back, how do you feel about his return?
Very excited for Jinder. He and I go way back as everybody knows on screen, but off-screen too. And he was part of my wedding party. We had him in a kilt and he's educated me in Indian culture over the years. He just went through a lot of injuries back to back and he's not wavered his work ethic or let them affect them mentally. It's great to see him back in the ring and looking so physically incredible as he always does.

Name your top 3 WWE stars you would want to work with and why?
With Roman it's pretty obvious there is unfinished business, we are a couple of Superstars at the top of our game on our respective brands, we had a cheap finish from the last match with all the interference and the low blow.

Jinder. Let's just say we've never had significant singles match the way Sheamus and I were able to recently. When you have real history with somebody, even though you're friends, it's good to get in there and be competitive with your friends and then hopefully joke about it afterwards and have fun afterwards. No matter who wins. Obviously with Sheamus things got a little bit personal, hopefully, that wouldn't happen with Jinder.

Daniel Bryan. I don't know what's going on with his future after he lost the match. Maybe he shows up on NXT? Maybe he shows up on RAW? But he and I haven't got to do much together. Certainly never had anything big, and I think obviously with where we're at in our careers, it would be something very special.

Most memorable moment in WWE
That would be winning the Royal Rumble because we had 40,000 people going crazy and that image is used all the time. I still remember the night mostly because we haven't really had fans. My next biggest moment would be winning the WWE Title from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, which was the exact opposite. Such a big moment for me, meant the world to me, just like the Royal Rumble. But didn't have those 40,000 people going crazy. There was complete silence, but it still meant the world to me. So both polar opposites but both mean the world.

Your first book A Chosen Destiny has been released. Tell us more about it.
Well, it's a book about my career and life and it's written for everybody. For WWE fans, for wrestling fans and for new fans and people that haven't checked out the show and hopefully become fans. Obviously, my career is in there and we talk about it in-depth and I don't hold back anything, but the main reason, the main inspiration for me writing the book was my story outside of the ring that I've talked about on television and talked about in interviews but never gone really in-depth with. The fact that I've been able to go really in-depth with it, not hold back and only talk about the good times, but especially talk about the bad times. If anyone knows my career, it's been such a rollercoaster of ups and downs and lessons learned the entire way. There have been times where I've felt like I'm at rock bottom. There's no light at the end of the tunnel and I kept pushing forward and wouldn't give up and finally achieved my dreams, but it wasn't an easy journey. I know during these times, especially the past year, people have been really struggling. People are going through very difficult times right now. I hope they can read my book and take something from it that inspires them to keep pushing forward. That's exactly why I wrote it in the first place.

Apart from wrestling, where does Drew's passion lie?
I don't have time for anything else. I like helping others where I can. Everything's virtual right now, but the responsibilities that came with being WWE Champion such as virtual hospital visits, supporting paediatric cancer awareness month, meeting the troops and the virtual meet and greets. I meet my fans all across the world from every country, including India, and they are a big inspiration.

Oh, and obviously I work out and I hang out with the wife and my cats and watch television! I guess those are some things outside of wrestling, but mostly everything revolves around my job.

Message for your fans in India battling Covid-19
Everyone stay strong. The world is thinking about you right now. Support each other where you can, follow all the guidelines. I know it is not great right now, but just like I always say, the night is always darkest before the dawn. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We're going to get through it, everyone in the world. Things are going to get back to normal. Everyone will be able to see each other, hug each other, WWE will be back in India. I can't wait to come and see everybody in person sometime soon. We are thinking of you. Stay strong, and stay safe.

You can watch WRESTLEMANIA BACKLASH on TV on Monday 17th MAY 2021 at 4:30 AM IST EXCLUSIVELY on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 Channels

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