Drew McIntyre puts the locker room on notice.
Drew McIntyre was labeled as "The Chosen One" in 2009 and was handpicked by Vince McMahon as a "future World Champion." Unfortunately, his career took a different path and McIntyre became lost in the shuffle before being released in 2014.
McIntyre spent three years on the Independent scene, rebuilding himself before eventually making it back to WWE in 2017.
“I never really had perspective, or I lost perspective, that I was actually living my dream. I had my dream job. ... I thought I was giving 100 percent, but I really wasn’t giving 100 percent, especially outside the ring. It wasn’t until my life’s dream was taken away from me that I realized, ‘Wow, you really weren’t giving everything you could,‘” McIntyre told The State Journal-Register. ”... I was immature. I came straight from university. I came straight from my parents’ home, where they told me what to do, and the university told me what to do, and WWE told me what to do. When I was released, for the first time I was in control of my next move, and I said, ‘All right, it’s put up or shut up time.’”
Now that he's back in WWE and viewed as one of the top heels in the company, McIntyre sees similarities between 2009 him and some in the WWE locker room today.
“I can look around now and see people who have lost perspective,” said McIntyre. “They’re perhaps tweeting about how upset they are and their lack of opportunity instead of bettering themselves or working harder outside of the ring. They’re clearly not going to the gym and they don’t have that fire anymore, and I understand it because I was there. And I can spot it because I was that guy. It’s my job and my character’s job to get rid of those who don’t necessarily have that fire and remind me of my younger self.”
McIntyre was in a high-profile bout at WrestleMania 35, taking on Roman Reigns in Reigns' first singles match back since returning from battling leukemia. McIntyre is scheduled to be part of The Shield's Final Chapter this Sunday when he teams with Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley to battle Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Dean Ambrose.
