Interview Highlights: Drew McIntyre discusses his reaction to being released by WWE, the path through NXT to the main roster, dealing with death of mother

The following are highlights of Lilian Garcia’s latest interview with Drew McIntyre on her “Chasing Glory” podcast on Spreaker. The transcript was provided to PWTorch.com by the programs producers…

“Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia”
Special Guest: WWE Superstar, Drew McIntyre 

In the newest episode of “Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia,” Lilian sits down with WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre.  Inside this episode, Drew talks about growing up in Scotland, what his childhood was like, his connection to the FBI at just 10 years old, and how he discovered his love for professional wrestling.  You’ll hear how Drew maintains a solid relationship with his father and how he endured the death of his mother.  Hear his in-depth thoughts about signing with the WWE at such a young age, his shocking reaction to his 2014 release from the company, and what he and his good friend Jinder Mahal did afterwards.  Also, you’ll find out how he maintained a positive attitude after his release that led to his inevitable return to the WWE and why he was excited to join NXT before going over to the main roster.  Drew also discusses what he’s learned in his 2nd run in the WWE and embracing the leadership role in the locker room, along with what it’s like to be partnered up with Dolph Ziggler. It’s about to get real, raw, and inspiring, with Drew McIntyre.

His reaction to his 2014 release: (15:40 – 17:03)

“It was a shock initially. At the time, I was doing the 3MB with Jinder and Heath and we were on literally every show so it was very unexpected. Even though I’d see my Twitter popping up that some people have been released or whatever, it still never cross my mind that a missed call from WWE might have been to tell me that I was getting released. I assumed it was “Hey Drew, you’re on the road a week earlier.” When I got it I was like, “Oh, okay. I’ll be seeing you very soon.” And I sat and I thought about it. 

My girlfriend at the time who is now my wife and I had just moved into the apartment that I got the call 3 days prior. It was our first place together, so I was thinking, “How am I going to tell her? How am I going to tell my Dad?” He’s always been my number one fan. I’ve just been released from WWE after 8 years and then I get worried about the next step and then eventually I told myself, “You know what, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.” The position I was in it’d be very hard to hotshot me into anything serious. I’d been there for so many years. It was the right time to be away from the company for a while and to have learned so much. I really believed in myself and knew this is all I know and I can really do something and the wrestling scene outside of WWE is really picking up, I believe I can make a splash and I was ready to prove it to the world so I got a little excited after the initial shock first.”

Wrestling with his younger brother growing up: (26:40 – 27:37) 

“He was my original wrestling training partner. We used to wrestle each other, but we’d always beat him up and make him cry. We were kind of weird kids. It wasn’t like we were just fighting to fight, just nonsensical rolling around, punching each other or grabbing holds and getting separated, we kind of worked together to put on the best match we could. We’d pick a character each and pick their moveset and try to have the best match possible. Before inevitably I made him cry.

We were just bizarre kind of kids and we’d see other brothers fighting, our friends fighting. It was just rolling around and just a lot of nonsense. We’re like, “Look at them, they don’t know what they’re doing!” We’d work together to put on the best possible show when we were having a fight and people would start circling around us even at the park and we’d get into a wrestling style situation. So from a young age, we didn’t know how it worked, but we knew we wanted to entertain and we knew working together put on th best possible show and drew the most attention.”

How he discovered his love for wrestling: (29:08 – 29:53)

“As far back as I can remember. Maybe at one point I wanted to play for my favorite soccer club, the Glasgow Rangers, but aside that it was just wrestling. How am I going to do this? I need to figure it out. We had a couple of British wrestling VHS’s and I didn’t know the difference between WWF and the British wrestling so I just assumed everybody was a part of WWF. I didn’t realize there was all these different companies and there was a British wrestling scene that had finished at the point pretty much. It was the old tapes that my Dad had and he was explaining to me who they all were, getting all the education on the British wrestling, but I was just obsessed, anything I could get my hands on, if my friends had any tapes, I’d be around at their house watching them over and over. I just had to figure out a way to do it.”

What the FBI gave him when he was 10 years old: (30:40 – 31:28)

“I remember I used to get a subscription to this magazine, The X-Factor. It just had random stuff. It would talk about dangerous animals, or ghost stories, or conspiracy theories. Again I was 10 and I gave a sample letter to write to the FBI if you want information under the Freedom For Information Act. So I sent away to America and I got about 3 documents in a big dossier and my dad was waiting for me when I got home holding this asking me, “Son, why are the FBI sending you things in the mail?” And I went, “Oh because I asked for it Dad.” He was like, “Let put this to you again, why are the FBI in America sending you letters in the mail?” I was like, “Again Dad, I asked for it under the Freedom For Information Act!” He was like, “You’re 10! What is wrong with you?” So I was a strange kid.”

Living through the death of his mother: (37:25 – 38:02)

“I think maybe for a long time I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me, because it certainly did. I kind of went off the rails for a very very long time. That’s pretty much what it comes down to, I never dealt with it. I don’t think I ever really dealt with it to be honest or never really will deal with it. That certainly sent me off the rails for a while, but eventually I knew I had to get it together. I knew she’d be disappointed in the way I was acting, the way I was throwing away my opportunities and throwing away life, because life’s too short. She’s an example of how short it really can be, but how much you can get in.” 

Choosing to go back to NXT before the main roster: (54:14 – 55:01)

“That was what I wanted. I told my wife in the beginning when NXT really started catching fire,”You know what babe, ideal when I go back there first, if I do my thing here and I get a reputation in the independent scene, then I believe I can get an angle to NXT because it’s such a passionate fan base. I think that would be the place for me to go to really show what I can do. And then when the time is right, because the transition is so much smoother from NXT to RAW and Smackdown, because it moves so fast. RAW and Smackdown, there’s so many hours of unique TV every single week all year round.” That was the way I saw it and that’s what I told her in the beginning. I told Chris Jericho, he was the first podcast I did, another one who really helped me in the beginning and really get my message out there was Chris and I told him, “I will be back.”  

Hear the full episode at Spreaker HERE or other podcast sources HERE.

NOW CHECK OUT THIS RECENT ARTICLE: Interview Highlights: WWE producer Adam Pearce talks about art of his job, the value of babyface-heel dynamic, museum