Drew McIntyre doesn’t need a catchphrase to get a WWE crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, and he plans to prove it when he’s back. In fact, McIntyre says he’d rather have fans care about what he’s actually saying than become one of WWE’s unnamed “catchphrase merchants.”
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, McIntyre explained how acting has changed the way he looks at delivering promos. One thing he’s still trying to master is dialing down his intensity, because once a live crowd gets going, his plan to stay calm usually goes straight out the window.
“It’s hard for me to take it down because I get so excited. My adrenaline gets so high, and I love it so much when I’ve got that audience that, when I’m in a real serious, deep promo, I try so hard to keep myself at a two.”
McIntyre admitted that “two” doesn’t usually last very long. Once the adrenaline hits, he can quickly find himself yelling and getting so fired up that even his Scottish accent becomes thicker.
“I’m like, ‘I’m going to be at a two, I’m going to be at a two.’ Then I get out there and it’s clearly an eight or a nine, then I go to like a 12 and I start ranting and my Scottish accent gets so thick.”
Roman Reigns is someone McIntyre believes has already mastered the opposite approach. Drew praised Reigns for being able to stay restrained and make the audience lean in to hear what he has to say.
“Roman and a few of the guys are real good at living around two and just keeping things — you’re going to have to lean in, Jake-style, to listen. And I’m working on that, and maybe with the lessons I’ve learned, I’ll be able to apply that when I get back.”
Still, Drew doesn’t want to get so focused on the camera that he forgets about the thousands of people sitting in the building. He wants the live audience involved because he knows they’re desperate to feel like they’re part of the show.
“But at the same time, I think you’re doing the crowd a disservice — the live crowd — if you’re kind of doing your thing just for the camera when you’ve got 20,000 people around you. It’s fun to bring them in, make them part of the show, because they want to be part of the show desperately.”
Just don’t expect McIntyre to accomplish that by coming up with some line everybody can chant every week. Drew joked that WWE already has more than enough people doing that.
“I don’t mean I’m going to start doing catchphrases because everybody does catchphrases. Everyone and their mother does catchphrases. I just want them to pay attention to the material and feel involved.”
When Van Vliet pointed out that Drew doesn’t really have a catchphrase of his own, McIntyre said that’s completely intentional. He believes he could create one and get the audience chanting along if he wanted to.
“I don’t want a catchphrase. I know I could say something and get them to chant along.”
Apparently, Drew is going to put that claim to the test whenever “Hollywood Drew” finally returns to WWE. He already has an idea for a future promo where he’ll deliberately manipulate the crowd into responding exactly how he wants before pointing everyone back to this interview.
“In fact, I will say it now — when I go back, whenever that may be, again, Hollywood Drew busy — I will do a test, because I know, like, I’ve learned how to be the puppet master for the fans, and I’m going to get you. I’m going to get you.”
McIntyre isn’t just talking about getting a random reaction either. He wants to prove in real time that he could manufacture a catchphrase-style response if that was really what interested him.
“I’m going to make them do something at will, and we’ll go back to this clip and I’ll say, ‘See? I could do a catchphrase. I could make them do what I want them to do.’ And I’ll prove it by doing it in a live promo in the future, and I’ll remind them of this moment.”
That’s when Drew finally took his shot at some of his WWE co-workers. He didn’t name anybody, but “catchphrase merchant” probably isn’t going to be mistaken for a compliment.
“I choose not to because I want them to care about the material and not be a catchphrase merchant, like some people are in the company.”
McIntyre quickly made it clear he isn’t completely trashing the idea either. He understands exactly why wrestlers use catchphrases — especially when those words can be slapped onto merchandise and make money.
“No names. Don’t — if you got offended, come on, relax. Like, I don’t mind it. It sells T-shirts and the like, but me personally, I’m trying to get them to care about the story and the words.”
Drew already knows exactly how he wants to prove his point, but he’s keeping that part to himself for now. All he’s doing is planting the seed so everyone can come back to this interview when he eventually pulls it off.
“I’m putting it out there now because I don’t want to give it away, but I have an idea. I have an idea to prove my point, because McIntyre always has an idea to prove his point.”
So now Drew has basically created a challenge for himself whenever he walks back through WWE’s doors. If he can get an entire arena responding on command without turning it into his new weekly slogan, he’ll have the receipt ready for every “catchphrase merchant” he just put on notice.
What do you think about Drew McIntyre taking a shot at WWE’s unnamed “catchphrase merchants,” and who do you think he was talking about? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
