Drew McIntyre may be a top WWE star now, but his journey to the main event scene wasn’t easy — and at one point, it almost cost him his marriage.
During a raw interview on the UNTAPPED podcast, McIntyre opened up about the darkest stretch of his life after getting released by WWE in 2014. He was grinding on the independent scene, wrestling all over the world, and chasing success nonstop. But while his career was taking off outside WWE, his personal life was falling apart behind the scenes.
“As a wrestler, though, I was making it happen. And then I broke my neck—right at the peak of it all,” McIntyre revealed. “I was out for eight weeks. That was the first time in my life, between school, WWE, and my independent run after getting fired, that I actually stopped.”
That forced pause became a moment of reckoning. His wife, Kaitlyn Frohnapfel, saw the writing on the wall and gave him a brutal dose of truth.
“My wife told me, ‘You need to get yourself together. You’re going to crash and burn.’ I told her, ‘What are you talking about? I’m the biggest wrestler in the world outside of WWE. Things are great,’” he said.
But she didn’t hold back. “She said, ‘No, you’re burning the candle at both ends. You’re jumping from country to country, drinking all the time. It’s all going to come crashing down. And not only that—I’m going to leave your ass.’”
That ultimatum hit hard. McIntyre said it forced him to reflect — and to finally admit that he was lying to himself about his lifestyle and priorities.
“That hit me hard. I looked in the mirror and finally had to be honest with myself,” McIntyre said. “That’s something I tell everyone these days—you can lie to everyone else, but you can’t lie to yourself. If you’re going to be accountable to just one person, let it be the one staring back at you in the mirror.”
McIntyre met Kaitlyn in 2013 at a bar in Tampa, Florida, and the couple tied the knot in December 2016. Since then, he’s rebuilt not just his career, but his life — becoming a two-time WWE Champion and one of the top stars in the company.
Drew’s story is more than just a wrestling comeback — it’s a testament to facing your demons, taking accountability, and recognizing the people who keep you grounded.
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