Drew McIntyre is ready to become a three-time WWE Champion as he will face the current titleholder, Bobby Lashley, at WrestleMania 37 next month. And there is one person who gave him the motivation he needed to be a main eventer. PopCulture.com had a chance to speak to McIntyre, who revealed that it was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who helped him get his career going.
“That gave me such much motivation because I wasn’t doing anything at the time,” McIntyre said in our PopCulture@Home series. “And he took the time and said Drew McIntyre. That was so motivating for me. Not long after that, I started getting on that role. He’s such an unbelievable guy. No matter how much success he has, he’s so down to earth.”
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What McIntyre was referring to is when Johnson spoke to TMZ in 2019 and said that McIntyre has “Superstar potential.” This was right before McIntyre won the Royal Rumble match in 2020 and beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36. He would win the title for a second time later that year after losing the belt to Randy Orton.
McIntyre also revealed why Johnson is a great person. “He gets it from his mom,” McIntyre revealed. “She’s the nicest person on planet earth. Every time I was at a show in Miami she was always there making sure I was okay when I was a kid and nervous. And then my wife was at WrestleMania 35 when I wrestled Roman Reigns, she was in the crowd with Roman’s family she was trying to not get in anyone’s way and his mom took her hand and walked her to the front so she could watch my match in the front row.”
Johnson helped McIntyre become a top star in WWE at a very challenging time for the company. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans couldn’t see McIntyre on his rise to the top. It was the Royal Rumble 2020 when McIntyre got a taste of what it was like to a main eventer with fans cheering him on.
“I was the last match of the weekend,” McIntyre said when talking about his WrestleMania match. “I had an opportunity with my feel-good story to make a lot of people happy during those difficult times. Then I did. It was so significant for me. It meant the world to me. There was nobody there watching but there was millions of people watching around the world. …I had the opportunity to represent for this entire year.”
