Drew McIntyre Details Nixed Runway Man Character

Drew McIntyre has discussed the proposed character that would have seen him be less Scottish Warrior and more blue steel.

In his new book, A Chosen Destiny, McIntyre details the plan to have him debut a male model character in his first run with WWE. According to the Scotsman, he was not a fan of the proposed gimmick.

McIntyre wrote:

“Ten years or so ago, individual wrestlers that ranked as emerging talent didn’t have much say in formulating their ring characters. Someone in the creative department had this idea that I was going to be Runway Man, a male model off the catwalk. I thought this idea was terrible, I had no connection to that persona! I have never cared about fashion or trends; never been obsessed with wearing a particular brand. I’ll get a nice pair of sneakers, sure, but then I’ll wear them until they fall off my feet. But I didn’t want to lose my opportunity, so I did what I had to in order to be ready to go and get out there under the neon lights and whirring cameras.”

At the time McIntyre was a rough and ready brawler with a physique to match. To look like a runway model would have taken a lot of effort on McIntyre’s part to lose the extra muscle.

Drew McIntyre explained:

“In The Empire tag team with Stu Sanders, I was a 265lb brute. To play Runway Man, I had to lose 40lb of bulk and lean up considerably. I hated the effect on my body. I became sickeningly ripped, like a human (non-blue) avatar with a sleek ponytail. For as long as I could remember I had been obsessive about building myself up; it felt so unnatural to be aiming for a more svelte silhouette. In the peak of my newly acquired male-model condition, I was called in to discuss the plan with Mr. McMahon. I kept a straight face throughout, but inwardly I was thinking, This is the worst idea of all time. A successful wrestling persona is said to be your essential character amplified by ten, but there wasn’t an iota of Drew Galloway in the proposed Runway Man.”

Drew McIntyre then writes that whether the WWE Chairman could see his heart wasn’t in the character of for some other reason, the idea was dropped:

“Mr. McMahon asked me for my view. ‘Sir, if you like it, I can make it work,’ I said. I don’t know if he could see that my heart wasn’t in it – my poker face was really unconvincing in those days – or whether he saw something else in me, but he made the instant decision to drop the 225lb Runway Man and let me be more . . . myself. From all he had seen and heard of me at FCW, I was this big, imposing, Scottish brute. That was the birth of my new character: essentially Drew Galloway with the volume turned up full.”

The two-time WWE Champion also writes in his book about the very moment he knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler.