WWE Champion Drew McIntyre wrote a featured article for “The Players’ Tribune,” an online publication founded by Derek Jeter that publishes first-person stories from professional athletes.
McIntyre’s article is called, “This Is Happening.” McIntyre tells the story of how his wrestling fandom began, his beginnings in the wrestling industry, his first run with WWE, the death of his mother and his WWE release, how he reinvented himself, and his return to WWE, culminating with a WrestleMania main event victory over Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.
McIntyre on the day he got fired from WWE in 2014:
And then the story of the day I got fired…… looking back, this pretty much says it all.
I remember that as soon as I woke up, I already had texts from a bunch of coworkers, telling me they’d been fired. Oh, that’s too bad, I remember thinking to myself, after each text.
I remember that Jinder, my own partner, was one of those people texting me, telling me he’d been fired. Oh, that’s too bad, I remember thinking to myself, after Jinder’s text.
I remember that I missed a call in the morning from Talent Relations, with a message asking me to call them back. I should probably call Talent Relations back, I remember thinking to myself, after that.
Alright so let’s recap: I’m contributing nothing to the company, seven years in. My demeanor is awful. A bunch of my coworkers are getting fired. Literally my partner is getting fired. Talent Relations wants to talk.
And yet — did it even cross my mind that I might be getting fired?
Not really no.
That………… is probably as good a summary as you’ll ever get of the Drew McIntyre 1.0 Experience.
McIntyre also wrote about his upcoming match against Randy Orton with the WWE Championship on the line at SummerSlam:
For my money, the Randy Orton we’ve seen in 2020, from his feud with Edge in the spring to his reign of terror on Raw over the summer….. this is flat-out the best he’s ever been. From the matches he’s been having, to the promos he’s been cutting, to the unreal character work he’s been putting in, I don’t even know what I’d compare it to. At an age when plenty of guys are slowing down, it’s like Randy has found this unprecedented gear — to the point where, as far as “evolve or die” goes, I think it’s the younger guys who are actually trying to keep up with him.
The man’s a genius, simple as that. Maybe an evil genius, as things stand now, but a genius all the same. It’s been a career highlight to work with him over the past few weeks.
And it will genuinely be an honor to kick his ass Sunday night.
You can read the full article by following this link.