Drew McIntyre recently spoke with Brian Fritz of SportingNews.com and praised Roman Reigns as a locker room leader. McIntyre said while backstage, Reigns has the same command and presence that he has out in the arena. Drew was asked what the locker room went through while Reigns was away battling leukemia, and what it’s like having him back.
“Obviously, I talk a lot of smack about a lot of people, including Roman to a certain extent, but the truth is, he’s everything that he says he is and that’s why I target him,” McIntyre said. “I don’t target the weak links of the locker room that I talk about because that would be easy to squash them like a bug. I go after the biggest dogs possible – The Shield guys and, in particular, Roman because he’s the man around here.
“If you want to be the man, like [Ric] Flair would say, you gotta prove yourself and beat the man. The truth is, backstage, he does have that command and presence that he has out in the arena. He’s as cool as a cucumber. He was built to lead, so it’s cool to have him there. He deserves every compliment that he gets. To overcome everything that he’s overcame, it shows what a fighter he really is and that’s the kind of guy we need leading the charge backstage. We’ve got a bunch of workhorses like The Shield guys – they are what they say they are. Again, I like to test myself by chasing down those guys because if I want to lead this place, I gotta take down the big man and eventually, I’m gonna get him.”
Regarding his nickname of The Scottish Psychopath, McIntyre said he didn’t give himself the name and he prefers to be called The Terminator.
“I never called myself a psychopath. It was someone else,” McIntyre said. “I think Dolph [Ziggler] maybe called me that initially when I first showed up and was taking everybody out on Dolph’s behalf. He referred to me as a psychopath and inevitably we were feuding with Rollins and Dean Ambrose returned as the “Lunatic [Fringe],” so I guess it took a lunatic to counteract a psychopath and it seems to have stuck. So, nobody names themselves the psychopath. I like the “Terminator” because I’m cold and calculated, but I guess I can get pretty intense and crazy out there, so therefore, they called me the psychopath (laughs).”
McIntyre often talks about Superstars becoming complacent, losing perspective and complaining on social media during his TV promos. He was asked if he has seen some change in the RAW locker room this year.
“Yeah, I see a lot of people working hard and trying to make changes,” McIntyre revealed. “Since I’ve been back, I’ve seen a few people, in particular, change a lot of themselves and starting working harder in the gym and some areas where, perhaps, they weren’t working hard enough. The truth is, no one is owed anything in WWE. You’re lucky to be here living your dream. So it’s up to you to leave no stone unturned and if there’s an area of your game that’s fairly obvious to me and other people around here that you’re not busting your ass at, then, basically, that’s on you.
“I do see people working hard around me, but in the same breath, I do see people complaining occasionally. It’s brought to my attention that people are complaining and it’s the same people I’ve seen not giving 100 percent in every area. If they genuinely believe they deserve the world, then maybe they need to take the original Drew McIntyre approach and take a little time away from the company and then once they’re outside the company, they’ll gain perspective. They’re going to wish they figured it out within the company. The reason I know the answers is because I’ve been through it and if you want to do it the way I did it, you can try. But I assure you, it’s not easy. There’s about two or three people that have done it my way and succeeded.”
McIntyre also talked about Vince McMahon’s new WWE Wild Card Rule and said it’s interesting, as a fan.
“I think it changes things up,” he said. “It’s never happened before. People online like to complain all the time, but the truth is, I’m still a fan. When I was watching the show, I always liked when a surprise happened. The element of surprise is pretty cool and it keeps things fresh, so I think it’s interesting. Of course, last week when I came out there were three “SmackDown” guys in the ring and I told them this isn’t “‘SmackDown presents ‘RAW’” so anyone that shows up on “RAW,” on my show, is going to get their arse kicked.”
