Drew McIntyre highlights how things in WWE are different now.
Former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre has drawn a lot of praise in recent months, as he has been renowned for his character work on WWE programming and social media. McIntyre has previously discussed how he has more creative freedom now, and others have echoed that sentiment.
Speaking with CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri, Drew McIntyre was asked whether he felt like he had upgraded as a performer in recent months.
“100%. Mostly because I feel the way I’ve not felt in a long time. I really have to point back to my independent run, where I truly found myself and I was truly relaxed, and I wasn’t worried about anything, except telling my truth. Over the last few years, I was a smiling sword man, I’m very proud of the work I did, but there was also a line I couldn’t cross, there were certain things, a way things have always been done. So I had to stay within those limitations. Right now, it feels like there’s no limitations, there’s no right or wrong answers. There’s everything outside the box. Everything you do now, obviously the collaboration with the creative team, stay on-point, stay on the story, don’t go out of the bounds of the story you’re trying to tell. But if you’ve got an idea, you go for it, and it succeeds, it’s on you. If it fails, it’s on you. That’s all I’ve ever asked in my entire career, is let it fall on me," McIntyre said.
McIntyre was subsequently asked how much the renewed creative freedom was responsible for WWE's current success. He stated that it had a lot to do with the way WWE is right now. He highlighted how every character has meaning, and WWE hasn't been that way for a long time.
"It’s a lot, very much to do with his things are now. Things were a certain way, and obviously it was very, very successful. Look how much the company grew. But eventually, it’s good to try new things, get a fresh pair of eyes on it and say, ‘Alright, let’s let the performers go for it. Let’s maybe try things that have never been tried. Let’s maybe involve characters in multiple stories at the same time, rather than just story A and story B, and the rest is kind of random matches across card. Everything has meaning, everyone has meaning, and we can cross these characters, doesn’t matter if they’re both bad, doesn’t matter if they’re both good. Right now, it’s just, ‘What’s your point? Where’s this character coming from? Oh, this is interesting.’ As long as it’s interesting television, compelling television, it touches you emotionally. That’s all that matters and should really matter. It’s awesome to see how many people have been able to step up, and every time someone’s music hits, the fans know, ‘Oh, that’s such and such. They’re about his, they mean something.’ It hasn’t been that way probably since late ‘99, early 2000, where everybody across the board meant something," McIntyre said.
At WWE WrestleMania 40, Drew McIntyre is set to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.
McIntyre recently noted that he would hear people out if they had a problem with his comments. Click here to see what he had to say.
McIntyre has said that CM Punk is made of glass, and he will break him. Check out his comments here.
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