Drew McIntyre declares he's WWE's top 'troll' and opens up on Triple H 'freedom'

Drew McIntyre reached the pinnacle of professional wrestling when he defeated Brock Lesnar to become WWE Champion at WrestleMania 36. There was just one problem - no-one was there to see it.

The Scottish star's crowning glory came at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning he lifted the title in an empty WWE Performance Center in Orlando in April 2020, rather than in front of 70,000 screaming fans at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium as planned. By the time WWE fans welcomed fans back to their events at the following year's WrestleMania, McIntyre no longer held the WWE Championship. And when he captured world title gold once again at WrestleMania 40 in 2024, his reign lasted less than six minutes, as Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to steal the title.

But that tells only half the story, because in the past five years, McIntyre's performances in the ring and on the mic have gone from strength to strength. Critically acclaimed feuds and celebrated matches with the likes of Roman Reigns, Gunther and CM Punk have solidified his status as one of the top stars in WWE today. Ahead of WWE's UK tour from August 23 to 28, Neil Docking for Daily Mirror Sport sat down with McIntyre, real name Andrew Galloway, 40, from Ayr, Scotland, for an exclusive chat about celebrities in wrestling, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, and why he's "the most controversial man on the WWE roster".

You're coming off a big match at SummerSlam, second from top of the bill on the Saturday night, when you and Logan Paul defeated Jelly Roll and Randy Orton in front of 53,000 people. It looked like a lot of fun to be a part of - how do you feel about it now the dust has settled?

"I feel great. I mean, SummerSlam was such a huge weekend, two days of SummerSlam, just unbelievable. I believe 113,000 people over the two days. It just blows my mind just to see how big WWE and professional wrestling in general has got now. I've also seen the crazy deal like today, I just saw another $1.6billion dollar deal for our PLEs [premium live events] to go onto ESPN in America. The billion dollar man Nick Khan [president of WWE] does it again. But yeah, WWE just keeps blowing my mind left and right and for me personally, you know, having the match against Jelly Roll of all people, the singer, who I actually really like as a singer, and Randy Orton, you know, one of my arch-rivals, tagging with Logan Paul, who is obviously a huge name when he was outside of WWE and has proven he belongs in the WWE ring, was pretty surreal.

"A few things I didn't expect from it was how much chemistry, I guess, Logan and I would have when we got together, like, he runs his mouth like nobody's business, as do I. I probably should have seen it coming a mile away, so I'm excited to see where we can take this, because nobody talks more crap than he and I together. And Jelly Roll proved he's, you know, a lot tougher than he looks. He had a great performance... I mean, he failed epically in front of the world, but it was a hell of a show for everybody and that many people that were watching.

"And Drew McIntyre finally got a big win on a PLE, I'm usually getting screwed, so maybe all this time I needed someone to watch my back. I couldn't have predicted it would have been Logan Paul, but here we are, and, yeah, hopefully we're back on track now.

"To cap things off, CM Punk, the Karma police came for him, Seth [Rollins] cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase, everything that Punk did to me, Seth did to him, and Punk went after him on Raw, proving he's a hypocrite. He still won't look in the mirror and go, 'maybe I'm the fricking problem here, maybe I should go apologise to Drew with a handwritten note'. No, no, no, he's just a hypocrite. But I'm loving it. Things are great for old Drew over here."

Talking about proving themselves in the WWE ring, some celebrities can come into WWE, it's a new environment, and they can look awkward or out of place. I'd suggest maybe we saw a high profile example of that earlier this year with Travis Scott. But with Jelly Roll, he seemed like a natural fit. How did you find him to work with?

"The difference when somebody succeeds or somebody's natural on screen in a WWE environment, is if they're a fan of the product or not, if they care or not, if they're invested or not. I've found with, you know, Bad Bunny, and Ronda [Rousey], when she first came in, you know, they truly cared about the product, they really wanted to work hard, they really wanted to to make a difference. Logan, obviously, I just consider Logan one of the roster now.

"Jelly himself, as much as I've run my mouth about him and I've run my mouth non-stop, I've made more jokes about him - not as much as CM Punk - but I've been going, and he's taken it. But to be fair, you know, he's got a passion, he worked so hard, he did legitimately lose over 200 pounds for this match, and I imagine for his health as well.

"And he did prove he's a tough guy and he's got some mettle, because it's one thing to train in the ring for a WWE match and in a warehouse and feel comfortable with it. It's another thing to walk out in front of over 55,000 people, whatever, sitting in the audience, and then suddenly you start panicking, suddenly the bright lights are on. Suddenly you start moving in the ring and realise there's no cardio you can possibly do to prepare for wrestling in a WWE ring.

"And he did a great job, again. Failed epically in front of the world, with the loss, Logan and I get that big victory, but nonetheless, he did a great job. I'm still a fan of his singing, and maybe he sticks to what he's good at, and he comes and watches the shows in the future, and we can become friends because I really do enjoy what he does. Just because I can sing amazing in the shower, like, amazing in the shower, doesn't mean I'm going to start a singing career. Think about that before you come to WWE."

The build-up included on Jimmy Kimmel live - with you interrupting an interview between guest host Jelly Roll and Orton, and Jelly Roll chokeslamming Logan Paul through a desk. I'm sure you've done your fair share now of talk shows down the years, but do you relish that environment? Obviously you get to do some good trash talking!

"Yeah, I mean, I love anything outside the box, as I mentioned, WWE being on fire right now, everybody wants a piece of us. Everybody knows now, I can't be taking so long, with such a massive global product, not just in America, literally every country in the freaking world, over 180 countries, and they're like, 'okay, we need to get WWE involved because it's going to bring us so many more eyeballs'.

"And we have such fun segments afterwards, all their staff were just absolutely buzzing, like, wanting to get us back again for all the entertainment value of the crap talk, but then the physicality, and then inevitably Jelly Roll putting Logan through the table.

"The cable people were just over the moon and everybody's realising, 'wait a minute, that wrestling thing we had all these preconceptions about, you know, it's pretty cool and there's probably a reason that literally nearly everybody watches it'. I feel like in America here they say, you know, what's your favourite sport or whatever, what American football team you follow? And I go, I follow football, soccer. 'So who watches that?' 'Everyone, literally everyone, just because you don't do it, literally everyone!' [That's] like WWE. Now everyone's catching on.

We've seen so many tributes to Hulk Hogan since his death. One of the things that stands out in the montages is listening to people talk about him and how he transcended wrestling and the celebrity factor, in him breaking into pop culture, with cartoons and TV shows, adverts and films. Doing that is easier said than done - how do you think that can be achieved with the current crop of top stars in WWE?

"Yeah, I mean, it's happening. It just keeps happening one after another, and a couple of the guys have the opportunity to do, you know, parts and movies. I know I was in, you know, Dave Bautista's The Killers Game, we got a couple of the lads who've been doing some big ones coming up. And it's happening. You're just going to keep seeing it evolving and growing and growing, where people pop up in different environments, and it's mostly because as people work with their superstars, they realise we can adapt to any situation.

"We're used to live TV. We're used to improvising. We're used to going with the flow, and for, like, someone on a movie set or a TV show where I've, you know, been there and I've had to change things on the fly, or change a line and say, 'you need some time to get it together?' And I'm like 'no, I'll do it right now'. And they're just amazed at our work ethic."

It's second nature to you.

"Exactly, and they realise just how great we are to work with, how big our audience is. And it always makes me laugh when I hear people saying, you know, 'these celebrities that are coming to WWE'. You know, what constitutes a celebrity? Because they did two or three movies, that makes them the celebrity? Or are we on television, 52 weeks a year in our underpants and get recognised in more places in the world than everyone else? How are they celebrities? Unless freaking Tom Cruise walks in or something, I'm pretty sure we're the celebrities!"

I was going to ask, on Hogan, whether your paths crossed in your career? Did you have many interactions with him or notable moments down the years?

"Yeah, we had interactions throughout the years when everybody was at the show, and, you know, I got to do the Hulk Hogan speech, 'What are you gonna do, brother', while I was WWE champion during the pandemic. You know, for someone like my father, who was a big fan, growing up with me, you know, he thought that was, you know, pretty cool to get to do the Hulk Hogan character shtick."

Someone else considered one of the greats of wrestling, who you've referred to as the greatest of all time, is John Cena. But you've never faced him in a singles bout. Have you been knocking on Paul Levesque's door and saying, 'throw my name in the hat, can I face him?'

"I've been invoking Cena's name for literally years, pointing out we've never had a singles match, pointing out there's certain feelings I have based on spending years and years on the road with him that basically nobody else, besides maybe like a Sheamus or Miz or R-Truth, has. I have certain feelings, and I would love, like I did with CM Punk, to get my hands on him, to get a little bit of retribution for Drew.

"But also prove, if he's the greatest of all time, I can keep up with the greatest of all time. Like a la Punk, when he's on the microphone, [people are like] 'he's the best of all time on the mic'. And I got on the mic with him and everyone's like, 'wow, Drew's the guy on the mic', and then I won all the talking awards and whatever. I want to be in the ring with the best, and I want to prove that I belong at the top level.

"I said 'I want Cena' for years, and in the past six months, I kind of changed my tune, when they started doing the, let's call it, 'bad guy Cena'. I think he basically admitted himself last week, it wasn't very great. It wasn't ideal. In fact, it was terrible. And then he went back to 'Super Cena'. I basically said, 'I don't want to face this...' - I'm trying to watch my language here - 'this b**** version of Cena'.

"I didn't want to face him anymore. I said, 'I want Cody to be the winner, I want to beat Cody for the title.' He's the one right now, who's 'Super Cody', and I want to beat him. I want to take the title off him. Plus we have this 20-year story, Cody and I, parallel careers, different destinations.

"But now, seeing Cena go back to his roots, proving he's a hypocrite, [because] we can in fact see him, which we'll discuss if I ever get the chance on the mic, or get the match with him, we'll talk about that kind of stuff, you know, compromising his values. I don't want to give too many details because I really have a lot up here [points to head] and I want to unload on the world if I get the opportunity.

"But I would love to get in the ring with Cena, this version of Cena, the version I've seen against Cody, that's the John Cena I want to fight. You know, he didn't come out on top in the end, but I'll admit it was a hell of a match, or a hell of a performance, and that's the John Cena I want to fight. So if he's got the stones, I want him before he retires."

It's an appetising match. WWE are coming to the UK with dates in Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. You always seem to get a great reaction from UK crowds, no matter what dastardly deeds, no matter what you're up to... they can't help but cheer for you!

"Scottish crowds are pretty good to me as well to be fair. But yeah, back in the UK and Europe in general, is obviously the bigger reactions, but yeah, yeah, I found even last week when Logan would come out and they boo like crazy and then I come out and they kind of cheer and he's looking at me, I'm like, 'well'..."

Is there anything you could do, do you think, to turn the UK fans, to turn the Scottish fans against you?

"I'm not trying to turn anyone against me anywhere. It's just, thankfully, in the UK aside [from me] being from there, they actually listen to what you're saying, and they pay attention to, you know, the long-term story and can relate to me. It's the same with the rest of Europe, it's the same with Australia, and basically every country except for America, Canada, usually as well, America is basically, 'what have you done for me lately?'.

"Anybody can get in a debate with me and I will crush you if you say, 'Drew's a bad guy, you're a heel'. They'll explain to me how. And whatever example they give, I can go back to the beginning, I can explain everything, how I got to this position, why I feel the way I feel about certain people, why I have the attitude I have right now, perhaps about the fans and what I want out of this industry.

"You know, culminating in Hell in a Cell, myself, CM Punk, I had 17 staples in my head, almost bled out, was gone for three months... The fans moved on. Barely any of the superstars called me, one person called me, to be exact, and I went, 'oh my God, I've sacrificed my whole life and career to this industry, and it's going to move on'. It's not anyone's fault. It's 52 weeks a year, it keeps going. It doesn't matter if you're me or you're Stone Cold [Steve Austin].

"I had to come to that, you know, realisation. I'm glad I was young enough and big enough to realise it, because now instead of giving, I'm going to take and get what's mine. Then when I'm gone, I'm gone. And I'm glad I realised that while I'm in my prime. So anybody who wants to debate me and say, you know, 'you're a bad guy', I'll win every time. And thankfully the people in the UK, generally around the world, not so much in America, see the story arc, see what I've been through and go, 'you know what, if I was in Drew's position, I'd probably feel the same way as Drew'."

It's been fantastic watching your arc over the last few years and the critically acclaimed, ultra intense, brutally physical rivalries with the likes of Gunther and Sheamus, and then Rollins and Punk, and then Damien Priest. Some of the finest work, I think of your career.

"Thank you."

"You've hit this stride... I wouldn't say later in life, because you're younger than me! But what do you think sets you apart now, from the Drew McIntyre of 10 years ago?"

"I don't worry so much what everybody thinks about me. I go out there and I do what I believe to be right. I go with my gut. I go with my first instinct. And it's not always, you know, right on the money. A good thing, the relationship I have with the bosses now, you know Triple H specifically leading creative, and allowing me this kind of freedom that I've never had in my life to explore how far I can push things.

"He'll let me know when I go too far, but I'll be the one that's the most controversial man on the roster. You don't see me doing interviews right now and going, 'well, when I do this, and I play this character, and when Drew Galloway does this'. I was like, 'no, Drew McIntyre and Drew Galloway are one of the same now'. Wherever I go, I'm the exact same person, we're 52 weeks a year.

"Are you going to invest in somebody that just says they're playing a character? It's not the same as a movie. You do a movie, you play a character, promote that movie, you move to the next one, you do a different character. [With WWE] it's year after year, week after week. I'm gonna be the same person all the time, and the best thing about it is, it's just me. Maybe the volume turned up a little bit, but it's just me, and it's, yeah, so much fun exploring how far we can take this thing, and I think it's that I don't have any fear now.

"But I do listen, you know, I'm not an absolute maniac. But I said it against CM Punk, and it's 100% true, I said 'I am more CM Punk than CM Punk'. He's the corporate man now, and I'm the one that's pushing the envelope to see how far I can push things, and, you know, the boss will be right there to remind me, 'hey Drew you've gone too far, get back here a little bit [laughs]."

Well, good luck to anyone who's trying to control you, especially on X, they're going to need it!

"Yeah, yeah, there's no controlling me there, I'm afraid, or fighting me. It's hilarious when people try to come at me on there, and Logan admitted once now we're on the same team, on the podcast I did with him recently, he was like, 'yeah, I saw you said something about me and I almost wrote something and I realised I don't want to do this with Drew, it's gonna kill me'.

"And that's just on Twitter. And then once I get off Twitter, I'm also, you know, I've changed my diet, so I've gained all this weight and all this size, so I'm now 6ft 5in and 282 pounds legitimately, so not only will I shred you on Twitter, I'll crush you in the ring. And if I wasn't married, I'd take your girl too. That's the kind of troll I am!"

WWE returns to the UK this month, including WWE Raw live from Birmingham on August 25. Tickets are now on sale and UK and Ireland fans can purchase tickets their tickets from Ticketmaster here