Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Drew McIntyre On CM Punk Feud, Jack Perry Photo, Beating Brock Lesnar, "The Killer's Game"

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Drew McIntyre (@DMcIntyreWWE) is a professional wrestler currently signed with WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Los Angeles, CA to discuss his role in the upcoming movie "The Killer's Game" with Dave Bautista, how Batista got him in the movie, if he plans to star in more movies in the future, his losses at both Clash at the Castle shows, his rivalry with CM Punk and if he has ever gone too far in his promos, the viral photo with AEW star Jack Perry and how it came together, his war with Gunther and Sheamus at WrestleMania 39, beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, why he believes in Joe Hendry and more. Quote I'm thinking about: "Most people tell themselves that if they felt better, they'd do the thing – when it's actually doing the thing that makes you feel better." - Mark Manson Complete this survey for your chance to win $500: https://bluewirepods.com/survey Sponsors: FACTOR MEALS: Get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month at http://factormeals.com/Insight50 BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv MAREK HEALTH: Get a 10% discount on Marek Health's Optimization Package with code CVV: https://marekhealth.com/cvv BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank which was designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/ PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And here we go. Welcome back to another one. Here on Inside, I'm CBV, Chris Van Vleet. How's everything going with you? I hope you're doing well. Thank you so much for being here on this one. And thank you for helping to make insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. The majority of people who listen to the show don't actually follow the show.

I hope that's not you. But if it is you, and if you've ever enjoyed any of the interviews that we've ever done here, hit a Claymore on that follow button on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Drew McIntyre is on the show today, and this interview has been a long time coming. We first planned to do this last summer in Nashville. The same time I did that interview with Nick Galdas, if you remember that one. Then we plan to do it, Survivor Series in Chicago. Then we moved it to the Royal Rumble in Tampa.

Then it was going to be WrestleMania weekend. Then Money in the Bank, the Stars finally aligned. because Drew is starring in his first movie, The Killers Game with Dave Batista, comes out on September 13th. He was in Los Angeles promoting the movie, and we finally made this happen. He absolutely crushes it in the movie, by the way.

The first of many movies, I'm assuming. He's just such a natural here. But if you think about it, there's really no better time to sit down with Drew McIntyre than right now. He's doing the absolute best work of his career in this storyline with CM Punk, His promos have never been better.

His storytelling is just on another level. I mean, he wore the CM Punk bracelet during this interview. Crazy. And it's crazy to think the same guy who got fired from WWE in 2014, right after being in 3MB, is the same guy that we see now in WWE. We talk about that transformation. We talk about the goal he had back then

to headline multiple WrestleMania with an S. and he made that very clear when we talked about in this interview. He's already done one, Russell Mania 36, when he beat Brock Lesnar. We talk about what really happened

when he stormed out a Survivor series after Sam Punk debuted. We talk about losing in Scotland at Clash the Castle. That viral photo with Jack Perry and a whole lot of other stuff. Snap a screenshot and tag us. He's at D. McIntyre, WWE.

I'm at Chris Van Fleech. This is such a good one. one. Enjoy it. Please welcome Drew McIntyre. I love that you're wearing the bracelet. Of course I'm wearing the bracelet.

Isn't it so funny that one of the best rivalries in WWE right now and all of wrestling right now is over a bracelet? Yeah. hilarious. I've seen some of the memes about, you know, it being more meaningful or people have more of emotional attachment right now than some of the titles, which may technically be true right now, but eventually the titles will kick up their gear and the storylines,

etc. But I'm going to be so bold as to say this right now is perhaps the top prize in all of wrestling. Amazing. Do you feel like you're doing the best work of your career right now? Yes, because I'm having the most fun. It looks like you're having a lot of fun out there. It also feels like a lot looser.

Like, what's changed with that type of stuff for the last year or so? I mean, it's all across the board. board. Just with new management coming in, a new creative process, Hunter kind of leading the ship and giving a lot of people, basically everybody, but specifically the ones that've been there for a minute, the chance to, hey, if you've got more to show, then show it. And this is your chance. There's no wrong answers. Go for it. And if it fails, it's on you. If you're willing to take that wrist slap and I'm willing to take a wrist slap, a finding, a firing.

To be true to myself and the relationship now I have with creative, how much they know the character, because it's essentially me with the volume turned up. And it comes to the punk stuff especially because I can't stand the guy. It's easy. But it's awesome, and to see it across the board, not just for myself. Just how many characters have stepped up and standing out right now in Raw is a lot easier to watch.

Three hours is still a lot. There's a lot easier to digest these days. The show flows so well. There's so many popular characters. It's amazing just to see wrestling so healthy and everybody thriving. We've been talking about doing this interview for a long time. A long time. We're here.

It just took you starring in a movie to make this happen. Yeah, I was just waiting for the right moment. It's the right moment. It's only been like a year or so. Congrats on your first movie. Thank you. What role did Dave Batista have and you being in The Killers game? What role did Dave have?

Yeah. I mean, he was about fourth and I was top billing. How did he get you into the film? I'm joking He called me And had a pitch One, I thought it was just the catch-up And he'd mentioned that

He's working on his new movie The Killer's game told me a bit of the premise Which I loved You know, the hit man That takes out the bad guys And, you know, he's never going to have That happy part of his life He does what he does

And he finds the right girl And everything's perfect Until it's not perfect And he decides to take a hit of it himself. I'm not going to ruin it any more than that, but it gets pretty exciting. A lot of people come to kill him, including this guy, and then you need some extra characters. The director, JJ Perry, had said, I've got this idea for this Scottish brothers, a McKenzie brothers. I have one of them. The other one, I just want to be, you know, a big, imposing guy that can

feasibly and realistically beat you up. And I just want them to have these thick Scottish accents and be just wild, you know, kind of drinking party, badassy, that are somewhat unintelligible because of their thick accents. And Dave basically said, I actually know that guy, he exists and called me. His name's Drew McIntyre. Yeah, I'll call him right now.

He actually exists in plan on planet. He's a wild man. How similar is the accent in the movie to, like, the accent that you had maybe previous to WWE? Is it thick? It's thick. Yeah, yeah, it's similar, but I mumble a lot when the red light is not on.

this day. I also non-see it a little better after 17 years in America. But yeah, before I came to America, I had the thick accent. The Scottish accent is the hardest accent in the world to understand. We have the accent. We speak fast. We use a lot of slang. Yeah, there were subtitles in this movie for your character. I'm trying to spoil anything, but it was fun. Like, just having JJSA, just go ridiculous, you know, use whatever Scottish slang you want because I don't know it. So just thinking back to all the crazy words I used to say back in Scotland and the current slang asked to my friends, you know, what's some of the current slang that would be fun to use in this. And there's no, you know, swearing restrictions that may have at W.W. sometimes. Come on, Netflix.

So, yeah, I got to freely use a lot of words, including my favorite word in the world, the C word. Oh, okay. People are so offended by that word in America and I've never understood why. The butcher's doing a heck of a job right now, helping, you know, acclimate Americans to it. But Australians and Scottish people use it as a term of endearment. And I was horrified to see this reaction the first time I used it in 2007. And somebody sat down and almost cried because I mentioned in their presence. So yeah, yeah. If I do anything from this movie, I just want to get people more comfortable with words.

I don't think this will hurt by them, but just words. You're not going to be saying that on Netflix, I don't think. I think that's still going to be. I was legit pitching it to, you know, one of our executives last night. They weren't feeling it either. I had an idea for, like, Ray and I to have a cold open for, Netflix where we just dropped that word that goes into the intro. They weren't feeling it.

Yeah, you know, maybe. I love it, though. Did Dave give you any sort of acting advice since this is your first film? The biggest thing Dave did as soon as I was on set, you know, was this giant broken down castle, just a huge production. So many people running around. I was like, wow, this is a different world. I came over to me, I made sure to check I was all good and asked me, are you nervous?

And I was like, yeah, I'm nervous. I'm nervous. Are you nervous at this point? You've done so many movies and people are seeing just what an amazing actor he is and whatever role that he's put in, like a genuine, amazing character actor. I can't believe you're nervous about it. I get nervous every time. And so that helped kind of relax me just knowing Dave at this point in his career. Still got a lot of nervous. And as soon as I sat down and that red light went on, I just instantly relaxed. Like I've grown up in front of the camera, my whole adult life. and that's my comfort zone.

I'm shocked people, a bit of an introvert, people's worst nightmare. Like when people say, God, this nightmare it was in my underwear in front of a large crowd is like my comfort zone. I was like, God, I wish it wasn't this party right now. I wish I wasn't from underwear in front of a giant stadium right now. I'd be so relaxed or like in front of a camera with a red light on.

So it was cool to go into that environment, see the red light and know the training I had, unknowingly, in WWB for years, prepared me for that environment. You think this is the first of many movies? We'll see. It's just a fun journey as far as I'm concerned. All I ever wanted to be was a wrestler since I was five years old. Very lucky to get signed straight from university, have the journey I've had.

And if the right opportunity comes up, like the character you saw it yourself, it wasn't Big Bruiser number three. It's just standing being big and angry. I was like, I'm not going to do that. Like, thankfully, no, wrestling is providing a living where I can pick and choose what I want to do. I want to wrestle. But it was like, this looks fun, and it was fun. So if something comes up like that, I'm going to do it.

Your character had a name, a story, background, tons of scenes, lots of action. And he was sexy. Yes. There's no smell of vision. I won't spoil it for everybody, but it gets a bit wild, just the way I like it. How are you feeling like right now in the day-to-day of what you're doing? Like, if we'd peel back the curtain just a little bit, like, your travel schedule's insane, right? That's mental.

You're on the other side of the country, Rhode Island last night for a Providence, Rhode Island for Raw. You're here in L.A. for basically these interviews. Yep. Then it's... All the way for you, Chris. You're the best. Thank you. Then it's Bash in Berlin, right? No, no, I got to go back to Nashville first. There you go. So I turn around, take the red eye, go back to Nashville. See the cat? Yep. See the messes. See the four cats. I pat my bag.

And then I head to Berlin. We got the kickoff show on the Friday. Who knows what media, et cetera. I'm sure a bunch. Then Passion of the Pops. on Saturday, and then head back to Denver for him. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered.

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Oh, yeah. He's killing it. Crushing it. And he was talking about the influence that you had, you know, in Scotland, like you were the guy. You were the guy. You were the guy that a lot of people there looked up to on the Indies. What do you think of the work Joe's doing now? He's killing it. It's awesome. I mean, to a lot of people, it's, oh, my goodness, this overnight sensation. Joe Henry is not overnight sensation. He's been working hard. He's been paying his dues. He's been perfecting his schick that we're all seen right now. and I always put over his video

He's got one on me, I'm Drew So make sure you look it up And I always tell this story Just if you've not heard me say I didn't know what the video was I told them don't show me I want to have a legitimate reaction In the ring to his video

So I'm Drew came up to the chin of I'm blue And I was supposed to be angry And I was laughing so much I had my hair in my face Trying to cover my laughter And it's just so entertaining And there's always that entertainment aspect But he's come so far in the ring

As well He's put it all together and yeah he's about a 10-year overnight sensation yeah and he's just crushing he's everywhere too yep he's everywhere your name also came up when I talked to Jinder recently and it's crazy to think that the same guy who was in 3MB is the same guy who's sitting in front of me right now yeah that wasn't me man it's crazy like what's the what's the biggest difference between you now and you 10 years ago gotta even know where to begin I mean first of all

I am so happy for gender. And I knew he'd hit the ground running and KLA has already picked up multiple championships. And when you see him in a clip, it's like that's the star right there. Look at that guy. Look how much he stands out. I'm so I'm so happy for his success. But, God, where did I begin? As a wrestler, you need that experience.

And I think I had to leave the company to truly find myself, you know, in race. and especially in the microphone, find my voice. When I was younger, it was very much drolled into me and was, at the time, you have to see these words on the script. You have to say each word exactly as it's written. And that's all you're thinking about when you're out there and you're not relaxed, you're not present, you're not in the moment. And I don't think I was present for 90% of my first run.

My site 3MB, it was so relaxed, but I don't know if we were fully present because we were mostly hung over, as gender mentioned. we were kind of method actors. We were legitimately acting like we were in rock bands. Yeah, had no songs or instruments or financial success to show for it. A lot of hangovers to show for it, though. But, yeah, just to see how far I've been able to come in ring,

finding my voice, finding who I am in every aspect. And thanks to everybody I've worked with along the way. And people like Joe, who believed in me looked up to me that way when I was first fired from WW and in 3MB, and they were like, Drew's here, he's going to lift us up. And in my head, I was like, can I do this? I've been in the 3MB for so long. I'm the 3MB guy.

And their faith in me allowed me to kind of fake it until I made it and start believing in myself. And one day I just went, I know exactly who I am, where I need to be. The final piece was stopping a cycle outside the ring and burning the candle both ends and throwing gasoline on the candle. And that's where the wife came in

and helped me become the man I am today. And by the time I returned to WWE, I was the performer on the man. So there's no comparison over the past 10 years or whatever you're at. And your life, your career, in wrestling, out of wrestling, just trust the process, work hard, leave no stone unturned. Don't listen to social media unless you come after me and I'll rep you to pieces and be accountable to the person in the mirror. You can do anything. You were already in great shape. But then when you came back to WWE, you were in insane shape and you still are.

Was there a day where you were like, I'm going to really? really turn it up in the gym now. Yep. I don't so much turn up in the gym. I always worked out hard. More, like, diet-wise is such a difference maker for me. I have such a high metabolism, not as high as it used to be, but still really high. And the key was breaking my neck initially.

That kind of helped me in a lot of ways. Yeah, people that asked me for advice. It was like, you know, it really was a turning point in my life. Breaking my neck. Getting fired and breaking my neck. Those two things I recommend for you to truly find your potential. But yeah, I brought my neck in Newcastle, England, in 2016, I believe it was. And luckily it was an undisplaced fracture.

And I just had to take some time off, like eight weeks. I think I fully took off and maybe did some promos for Evolve during that time. But got very lucky, but I had some time at home for the first time ever. That came straight from uni to WWE schedule, to the independent schedule, which was even busier than WWE's schedule. And during that eight weeks, this is where not only did the messages have the conversation of,

if you don't get your act together, you're going to crash and burn for one. I was the most successful independent wrestle in the world. What more can I do? She was like, you know there's more you can do. Basically, WWE, that's what you should be on top, but also I'm going to leave your arse. If you don't get yourself together outside the ring,

that's where I really was okay. This is not who I want to be. I can do more. I do want to be back there. I do want to be world champion. The goal was to head. in WrestleMania. I'm proud of what I'm doing right now, but okay, what are we going to do?

We're going to cut back on the party, or at least for a period, eliminate it. And we're going to start looking at areas that can improve like who's the top billing in WWE right now. And at the time, I was looking at like a Brock Lesnar and a Paul Heyman, I went, okay, that's the top attraction right now. If I stand in front of Brock, am I believable? More than a lot of people, but no, I can do better than that.

I'm going to build my body up to look the part. If I step in front of Brock, people are going to go, I believe he can beat him up. If I got to go toe to toe to toe with Hayman on the mic, as much as I'm comfortable right now in the mic, I got to get better. And I'd ask for more promos and shows after that. So I was eating like a maniac when I returned from that neck injury.

I was talking as much as I possibly could. And you fast forward a few years where I eliminated Brock from the Rumble the next night on Raw. I remember ricochet is saying, well, that's pretty cool. When I looked at a graphic on the screen and it was true McIntyre versus Brought Lesnar with an image of Hayman, I was a wow, that's the motivation I used when I broke my neck.

So, yeah, everybody out there. Get fire, break your neck, next to Drew McIntyre. I like that you said your goal wasn't. Oh, you'll be in a movie too. Yeah, that's it, yeah. I like that you said your goal wasn't to headline WrestleMania. It was headline WrestleMania.

Oh, yeah. With an S on the end. But that's a very, that's a big distinction, right? There's a lot of people that just want a headline of WrestleMania. Yeah, I went multiple. Now your WrestleMania is. I went to be the absolute top of this industry. And like I told the message,

when I finally had my vision clear, I'm going back to not just be one of the guys. I'm going back to be the guy. And I'm going to work my arse off and make it happen. And whatever I have to do. And thankfully, I sit here, former WrestleMania main event on like a certain somebody. I can't quite put my knee.

I can't quite put my finger on his name right now. But I ain't want to rumble either. He's not very pretty. When they called you the chosen one, did you feel like the chosen one? Hmm. I guess in certain ways. but a lot of people did not like it backstage

so I didn't feel as much backstage with the professional jealousy that I didn't realize how significant it was and the things that were being said and it was all out of jealousy and why is this kid getting this huge opportunity when I've been here for all these years but for the opportunities on TV

I certainly did for a period and looking back I know obviously I could have done things a little bit differently but at the same time I just didn't have those tools in my wheelhouse to do things differently, and we all go through our journeys for a reason to end up at the final destination. Did this year, WrestleMania, winning the World Heavyweight Championship? Did that feel like your WrestleMania moment?

Because it's so tough with 36, right? You beat Brock Lesnar, but, you know, it's in front of nobody. Just the way I pictured it as a kid. Right. Just the roar of the, the echo of the nothingness in the... That was great. Living 30 in the morning, beating Brock and then wait until the following week to watch it. I was like, can't wait to see the main minute around.

WrestleMania. Can I place money on it? Did this year feel like that moment? Yeah, it did. After, I mean, the match itself, opening WrestleMania, myself and Seth, one of my greatest rivals. We have big professional rivalry. And the match itself is perfect. Just with a story going into it, we've had so many matches, like technical, high-fly, near falls left and right.

This was okay, correct. just starting off Claymore, just unload, unload, unload, until somebody doesn't get back up. And finally, I put the last round in Seth. I had that moment where the crowd were chatting, you deserve it. At WrestleMania, Seth had that moment telling me the same thing, which meant a lot. And then being able to present the title to my wife,

just been such a big part of the journey. And when my voice is cracking, I guess I'm getting emotional. We don't need to talk about what happened after that. But no, yeah. I mean, I'm not going to talk about what happened after that. But just that was real. I don't remember. Exactly. That five minutes or whatever I dragged it out to,

because I made sure I milked every second of it, because that was very real. It was very emotional. And been able to get for the title and say, this is yours too. And hug at my brother, who's my original tag partner, was very, very cool. And then punk fucked up.

Did that mean more than if you had wanted Clash of the Castle? I think so. It's weird because you look at certain moments and in the moment when you're living them, you're like this is ridiculous. We should have found a way out of this. Theory could have cashed in and I could have pinned him because we had to protect the bloodline enrollment at that time

because that's the top story in the company, the top character. And perhaps at that time I was like, I just feel this is a bad move. The thing about Tyson Fury, that was stupid. no excuse for that. That's the worst moment in my entire career. It was that bad?

We did the bit, the song, and then I told him, hey, you want to sing Sweet Caroline? Because the British fans, one, they're upset. I just lost. And two, they don't know American pilots. He was like, nah, I'm good, mate. I'm not going to fight here, Tyson Fury, so give me the mic. And I figured we're off the air.

That's what I started doing the Oasis bit in singing. What's the story? Hey, sorry, don't look back in anger. Just got the crowd going. And I was like, oh, this sucks, but we're off the air. Then I found out we're still on the air. It was a whole thing. But anyway, I digress.

Oasis are back together. I've got to get some tickets for that. Yeah, that night I was very upset. I was a man, I don't want to hurt that market. How does McIntyre rebound from this? Which took a minute to do. But because I didn't win that night, the way things worked out,

the story we've been telling. That was such an integral part of the story, especially initially with the character shift, with Jay Uso moving from Smackdown to Raw and bringing up the trauma and PTSD McIntyre me had from the bloodline and what they had done to cost not just me but my family that moment who were all in the front row

my dad my wife my brother sister-in-law my cousin like everybody is there who've been missing me for all these years and not seeing my nephews grow up that was going to be our moment and this trauma's brought up by this bloodline member just showing up and everybody cheering

I mean, saying a silly little word, doing his little silly dance. And now, wait a minute, this guy's a bad guy. And then suddenly people start turning on me. So if it wasn't for what happened at Clash, it wasn't for the journey, and the way we tell stories, I mean, can tell stories now,

we wouldn't be where we are right now. What about in Scotland? It's right there. Yeah, that was a tough one. Really, really tough one. At the same time, if I win, then I'm right. sometimes it's okay to be right yeah that one really stunned

was there not a moment or you were like are you guys sure are you like are you sure this is what we're doing yeah there's always that moment and I like in the environment we're in now it's story above all else I didn't feel that way in the past I was like if we're going to this now

things could change in a couple of weeks there's a lot of pivoting left and right and characters and stories change it consistently now I know we will stick to the story and it hurt but I see what we are now and I'm like okay if I won that night then I'm just yeah I did it

I'm right go screw yourselves because of what happened and much as I can't stand that moment was something that would be replayed forever just the big near fall at the end everybody in my freaking home country going insane won two

and it's that piece of shit cat in the fall and costing me the match with the low blow and at the same time at SummerSlam if you noticed the way I gave him

the low blow was the exact same corner the exact same way he did it to me so he can't say one word about how things happened at SummerSlam. The trolling on social media has been just on another level. It's amazing.

Congrats. Thank you. The photo... Where may anybody from the UK? Or pricks? The photo with Jack Perry was something else. Did you just run into him

at Comic-Con? No, I was flying to LA and they just did a show the night before. I'd seen Roderick Strong at the airport, a buddy of mine, and we got to catch up, which was awesome. He was heading to an RO8 show, I believe. And then on the flight, I'd just seen Jack, had a little chat. I had my chat with him and his missus, and then we snapped a picture, and the internet had a freaking melt on. It was hilarious. How long did it get to stay up for?

I think it lasted 45 minutes and then the numbers I heard were like 2 million impressions or something insane for 45 minutes. It was pretty wild. People enjoyed that immensely. So yeah, I'm always dancing on that line of what's acceptable, not acceptable, of make people question things. And as I said, do you know where that line is? It's probably back about 100 yards that way. That's where I live. And yeah, I just do what It was fun and then, you know, did someone tell me? Didn't someone tell me? Was it by design?

Did I choose to remove it? I'll never answer that question because I love people asking questions. If you keep doing stuff like this, you know that people are just going to keep cheering you. Like, it's just, it's a funny spot that you're in. You're doing bad guy's stuff, but you're getting a good guy reaction. Not always. Like, like, punk is like teflon. And I spoke about it last night.

It's like nostalgia is a hell of a thing. And he's been gone for so long. They were chanting his name so long as legends grow. and he's been living on that scene of feud and the pipe bomb, which we're all, you know, revolutionary at the time. But he returns, and people are excited to see him. Fair enough, I don't like him.

And we get involved in each other's business, but then people start, not everybody, but a lot of people start chatting his name, which genuinely hurts. I'm like, wait a minute, I think last night, and this line came to me when I was out there. It's not like this was planned or anything. I said my bit and did his whole promo

because he's so predictable, and pointed out, the fans are enablers, who are encouraging him, of his ego chanting his name. He believes he can fight someone like me in a strap match. I'm going to kill him. But then by the end

he chatted his name again. And I'm trying to paraphrase myself because it came to me in the moment. And so you're choosing nostalgia over the warrior that's always been there for you in the darkest of times. And that came to me in the moment just because that's how I felt. It's poetic.

Yeah, but it's true. I really feel that way else. Hey man, I've been working my arse off for you guys for 52 weeks a year. Like literally, I almost caused myself to lose, you know, relationships and everything, because I give everything to this industry,

and it's just the way of the world. Sometimes, you know, it's what have you done for me lately? And, hey, I like this hot new thing over here. And it's like, okay, and I told them, I forgive you still, because you know not what you do. Is there a particular line that you've used against CM Punk that you're especially proud of? I could write a book with a size of war in peace

about the amount of lines I've used because I've been holding all together since January doing 99.9% of the heavy lifting so yeah I mean I've got so many one that I like in particular

I remember my wife doesn't think I'm funny at all thankfully the boys to a lot of the fans to but I was in the shower and I remember I shouted her I was like Caitlin come here and she runs through

thinking something's wrong and she's like what I got out here for a line and she's like God what it was her she punked straight edge that he doesn't do drugs, he doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do anything, he's like,

so what's the line, I was okay, here's what's ironic about CM Punk, he's straight edge doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, yet he spends all this time in rehab. She just rolled her eyes and walked up. He's done TV, nothing after, and it was during the Chicago from where everyone talks about. And again, I was one of my favorite moments,

again, whatever I feel about him personally, when he's on, he's not always on, and I crush him on the mic, he was on in Chicago, and we went back and forth, like I mentioned, and I like okay corral like verbal bombs on each other and he got the one at the end where I was like all right he's going to have he wins this one in Chicago because I'm not going to go down there because I'm not willing to hurt the company or whatever which you know that's the kind of person I am a company company guy he plays the company guy wears his suit kisses all the corporate

ass I don't do any of that stuff but I do the stuff that actually matters like not hurting the company's image this episode is brought to you by timeline timeline is a Swiss based life science company, and they're a global leader in urolithin A research. So what's urolithin A? It's a powerful postbiotic that's nearly impossible to get from your diet alone. Mitopure is the first product to offer a precise dose of urolithin A to upgrade your mitochondria function, increase cellular energy, and improve muscle strength and endurance. One way to think of mitopure is that they're like the little pack men in your cells,

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Timeline.com slash insight. There's this moment that keeps surfacing online from TNA. And it's you, L.A. Night and Tungaloa in the ring together. And it's so funny because you look at you guys now and it's like, look where you're at in your career. Do you remember that moment back then? No, clearly, but yeah. Like that time, my schedule was, we talk about today and the past few days and where I'm going this week all across the world. Back then, it was 10 times crazy. I was back and forth to the UK literally every three weeks. Wow. And for most TNA tapings,

I'd be in like Scotland, England, whatever, like the industry, 2014 to 17, just so hot. It led to the creation of of AW, just how hot the industry was and how many people just really taken off during that time. And the UK itself

was just such a hotbed so I was there all the time and I'd fly to try and make the tape in the first day just on time. So I was very jet-liked a lot of the time. But yeah,

I had fun with those guys. I kind of didn't understand why I needed a group. But at the same time, I was friends with Nocabacho T. I'm not sure he wrestles as these days.

Something lower? Tonga Loh. Yeah, Tonga Loh. Yeah. And I'd never really been around. In the way, L.A. I am at the time. And at first, I wasn't too sure about him. I think he's talked about this publicly,

so I'm not saying anything out of school. But, yeah, I don't know, his personality. Sometimes he can rub you the wrong way at first. He's a lot. He has a lot. Yeah. So, yeah, he was supposed to be in the same team. It was a lot at times.

But I still, you know, I was like, he's obviously got talent and his charisma by the, you know, the bucket load. and it wasn't until after the Rising was done I think we're at the hotel maybe everyone was hanging out and we had a proper chat and I went oh I get you know and now is like one of the

I love him such a great guy and I feel bad that I ever felt otherwise during our group so sorry I don't know if I was told this story we didn't get along necessarily I didn't get along maybe you didn't know that but it knows now but I love them I love them these days what did that match last year at WrestleMania at WrestleMania 39 what did that match

mean to you Gunther and you and Seamus in there and you tore it down. I'd say bell to bell, the fact that it was at WrestleMania, that could be the best match, it probably is the best match of my career. I mean, how can you top beat at WrestleMania? Having a match that people say is one of the greatest mania matches of all time, but perhaps the greatest triple threat of all time. And also the history I have with Seamus for the person.

past 20 years. I'm in the ring and out of the ring. Everything we've gone through together. And then adding Gunther, with somebody, it's just very similar to us. Such an incredible physical in-ring talent and put us all together. And it was amazing.

And I remember, not even 10 minutes into the match, I think it was after Seamus gave me about 20, how many beats? Oh, that one lying. It was over 40 beats to the chest and the face. And then the crowd went crazy. And they're chatting, I believe, this is awesome. And I was like, wow, we're not even getting started.

Just wait until you see. And also, why am I seen double at this point? But that was cool. And the story for the match was cool as well, because eventually Gunther disappeared for a while when Shamus and I have always dreamt about a one-on-one match at WrestleMania. And we went back and forth for about 10 straight minutes, Claymore's and Brogues and hitting our bombs.

It was like we were having that singles match. We forgot about Gunther. And at the right moment, he just reappears, boom, steals it, heads out. So that was cool as well. The Shamish and I kind of got our one-on-one match at Mania. we should have had the year prior. What happened at Survivor Series last year? Was this a seed being planted with CM Punk?

He returns in Chicago and you very angrily, you know, leave the ring and storm out? There was no seed been planted. I was just angry. I left the ring and I stormed out. I mean, I'm not shy to talk about it. Yeah, I was pissed off. And you're really... And you're really...

You didn't know about it? I guess a number of things. I can understand business reasons. That's not for me to make those decisions. Personally, yeah. I was pissed off. And I chose to leave the arena because I'm not going to cause an incident that's going to, you know, affect everybody's mood afterwards

and the guys in the match that worked so hard. And people ask me, my Seth, the nice reaction. Maybe that was Seth's legit reaction. But to me, I couldn't have stood out there. If somebody's that close to me that I don't like that much, I wouldn't stand and swear. And have people hold me back. I would have walked right up to him, punched him in the face. So I chose to leave the building.

Probably better than punching him in the face. Yeah, I mean, again, I do that now. I mean, exactly. I do that now. And it's amazing. I guess we're good to make money for a hatred for each other. I had Riddick Moss on the show recently. And he told the story about that Alabama slam where he landed in his head.

like completely my fault, not Drew. Yeah, it was still terrifying. So what were you thinking in that moment? I didn't know how he landed until after the match. I knew that it was going awkward. Halfway through, I remember stepping back to try and give him a little more room, but I didn't realize he tucked his chin into his chest, so there was nothing that was going to happen, but spike himself.

So I thought he landed a little awkward on his shoulder, perhaps. I'd give him a second to recover, and the ref was kind of buzzing me, frantic. just to make sure he was okay. And we continued and he was fine. We threw the whole match, look. Yeah, like nothing happened. Yeah, nothing happened. If we'd known how bad it looked at the crowd,

we should have used that. I just didn't know, or would have gone for his neck. And then after the match, we're getting to see the clip. I remember watching it, oh, my God, and seeing the color drain out of his body. In slow motion. It was terrifying. It's one of the worst thing I've ever seen out.

He's lucky. He's just so jacked and conditioned. He's like a super athlete. But that was after the fact. one of the scariest moments from my career watching it back and just constantly checking it. Are you okay? Are you sure you're okay? How are you okay? Are you a human being? It was genuinely the most scariest things I've ever seen. I didn't even realize in the moment how bad it was. Baron Corbyn drops to one knee like oh like that. Then I kicked out of his end of days. Do you know that story?

Oh yeah, I kicked out of the end of days. I'm the only person ever to do it at at WrestleMania. Yes. Yes, we should talk about that for 93 minutes and just send it to Corvin. Perfect. He loves it. He loves when I talk about how I kicked out of the end of days. at WrestleMania. The only person to do it. Only person to do it. Hopefully the only person ever, because then it'll still be special,

because I'm the only one that's ever done it. He'll be in his tombstone. No one kicked out of the end of taste, but Drew Mackin's her. He told me a long, great story about how The Undertaker told him, protect your finish. And if someone is going to kick out of it,

it needs to be super meaningful. Protect your finish. You're the guy. I mean, to be fair, it wasn't done just randomly. Like, he, you know, has protected it so long, and I'm very appreciative that we used

that at WrestleMania, which led to, you know, myself, Drew McIntyre, growing as a performer to the next level to fight Roman Raines at the giant show in the UK, the first stadium show in 30 years. So it led to a destination. It wasn't just done to fuck McCormick, which is funny. No, no, I'm very appreciative because he is very protective of it

and he did that for me, and the character and the show to lead to McIntyre Rains. Drew, I'm so glad we were finally able to make this happen. Congrats on everything that you're doing. Congrats on the Killers game. And I'm going to wrap this up with a question I asked everybody at the end. Gratitude is so important to me. So Drew, what are three things in your life that you're grateful for as we sit here right now?

For sure. Health, after wrestling for 24 years. I'll give the last one to the wife. I know she falls under family, but she, you know, got to put her over a little extra now and again, so she gets to slow, alter herself. The cats fall into the first one? Of course. Okay.

I love those little bombs. I wish I could take one of them with me. My wife would never let me. Chaz is well-behaved. I bet I could take him on tours with me. Thank you so much. Thank you, really. Appreciate you.

Finally happened. There we go. The Killers game in theaters on September 13th. He is so good in this, and so is Dave Batista. And after what we saw in Raw, with CM Punk getting attacked by Drew McIntyre, that story is definitely not over. So is it going to be, is it going to be hell in a cell at bad blood?

That's kind of what this feels like. It's definitely leading up to something at bad blood. And, hmm, really no better way to settle it than hell in a cell. It feels like hell and a cell has been tossed around for bad blood for the last little while since bad blood was announced. This is the match that seems to kind of tick all the boxes for what you'd want to see in a hell in a cell. So we shall see. but Drew McIntyre absolutely crushing it right now. Snap a screenshot and let us know what you thought of this interview and tag us online.

He's at D McIntyre, WWE. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And just one more thing to add, I know you're listening to this, but when we talked about him headlining multiple WrestleMania, he's like, oh, yeah, unlike some other people. And he held up his left hand to his face to scratch his head. And then you could clearly see the bracelet. in the shot. Brilliant. Just trolling on a

whole other level. I'll leave you with this quote from Mark Manson. Most people tell themselves that if they felt better, they'd do the thing. When it's actually doing the thing that makes you feel better. Be great and be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. We'll see it tomorrow. It's Ask CVV number 47. We'll see you then. podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all.

Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987, Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987.

I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.