Drew McIntyre carried a massive sword to the ring for years in WWE, but he never got to do the one thing he really wanted with it. He actually pitched Vince McMahon an idea that involved chopping someone’s arm off on television. And when Drew tried explaining the movie that inspired the whole thing, he discovered Vince had apparently never even seen it.
Speaking during an interview with Chris Van Vliet on INSIGHT, McIntyre revealed that he wanted to pull off a brutal sword attack using the same kind of practical effects seen in Saving Private Ryan. The idea was to make it look like he had actually severed someone’s arm, and he took the pitch directly to McMahon.
“I also pitched, you know, to the big man himself. I was like, hey, you know, in Saving Private Ryan, and he, Vince, had never seen Saving Private Ryan.”
That made things a little awkward because Drew was counting on Vince understanding the reference. McIntyre explained that the movie used performers with amputations to create realistic-looking injuries, and he wanted WWE to try something similar. His plan was to have a fight break out, possibly at WrestleMania, before moving the action backstage. WWE would then switch to a pre-recorded segment where Drew would finally use his sword on another person.
“I think Mania or something. We should have a fight sequence. We end up backstage. Then we hit the pretape where I swing the sword at somebody.”
The trick would have been using an amputee performer and camera angles to make it appear that Drew had cut off someone’s arm. McIntyre thought it was the perfect way to finally give his sword a purpose beyond carrying it to the ring. And that’s something that had been bothering him for a long time. Drew didn’t like the idea of constantly carrying a dangerous-looking weapon without ever getting a major payoff out of it.
“Finally, I use the sword. Pay off. It’s bothering me. Like things like I’m very a stickler for details. That’s why I use social media the way I use it to tie stories together if I don’t think they’re tied together enough. I’m a stickler for details. And I’ve had this sword for so long. I have to, I have to stab someone.”
Obviously, WWE never went through with the idea. Drew ended up using the sword for entrance theatrics, including cutting ropes and stabbing it into objects, but nobody ever lost a fictional limb. The good news for McIntyre is that he finally got his chance to put those sword skills to use outside WWE. He revealed that his new project, Agent of Shadows, actually allows him to attack people with a sword, something he’d wanted to do for years.
“And finally, all those years later, Agent of Shadows, Drew McIntyre is going to go shanking. I’m stabbing some people. Finally.”
McIntyre also explained that working on Highlander made him realize he should have taken sword-fighting lessons back when he carried the weapon on WWE television. After learning from professional stunt teams, he was amazed at how much he could actually do with one.
As for his WWE entrance, McIntyre hasn’t completely ruled out bringing the sword back. He still has a personal attachment to the weapon, which was named Angela after his late mother, but felt it no longer fit the darker direction his character had taken.
So Vince McMahon never gave Drew McIntyre the green light to chop someone’s arm off on WWE television, but Drew eventually got to swing a sword at people in Hollywood instead. Considering how far he wanted to take the original angle, it’s probably one of the more outrageous pitches that never made it onto WWE television.
What do you think about Drew McIntyre’s idea to make it look like he severed someone’s arm with his sword? Should WWE have gone through with it, or was that taking things too far? Let us know in the comments below.
