Drew McIntyre reveals what was going through his mind during the 40-minute rain delay before Wrestlemania 37. The Scottish Warrior faced Bobby Lashley at the event.
Drew McIntyre won his first WWE Championship at Wrestlemania last year. Unfortunately his crowning moment took place with no audience. Scheduled to face Bobby Lashley at this year’s Wrestllemania, McIntyre was more than eager to feed off the energy of the audience.
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His heart sunk upon finding out that it was raining. The former WWE Champion spoke with Brandon F. Walker on his Rasslin’ podcast about the thoughts he had when he learned that the fans had been asked to leave and the eventual relief watching them come back in. He also talked about how he feared that the crowd had moved on from him.
Drew McIntyre reveals what was going through his mind during the 40-minute rain delay before Wrestlemania 37
“Unbelievable. We almost got rained out at times and I was trying to keep myself motivated and in the right frame of mind. But at the same time, just seeing the weather going on, and people being asked to leave the stadium [then to] come back inside, oh my goodness. Last year I’m fighting for the title and there is a worldwide pandemic, and this year I’m fighting for the title and we’re about to get rained out, there must be some kind of jinx.
“But I tried my best to drown everything out. Because I was like, ‘Nope, nope. I’ve waited one year, one month, and one day, and I’m the first one out here. So, I head to the back, I’m the first one through the back, and I hear, ‘Drew, there is a 40-minute delay.’
“That’s when everyone is walking past me, fist bumps all-around, you know, ‘Start them off right big man,’ and, ‘Let’s do this,’ you know, ‘You’ve earned this moment,’ and, ‘Kill the show.’ Just person after person and through my head and my fist is up, just anger in my eyes, [thinking], ’40-minute delay…’ So that was interesting, that 40 minutes.”
That new thing was Lashley at the time
McIntyre also spoke about his fears regarding the fan reaction. He was no longer the new thing. Lashley who had just become the WWE Champion was the top guy in the promotion. However, none of that mattered once he walked out to the ring.
“[When] I came out it kind of occurred to me before I walked through the curtain that there was a lot of Drew content last year, I wonder how they’ll react. In the past when people have kind of been in the fans faces for a long time they go, ‘Okay, we like this guy. He’s cool. But what’s the new thing I want to check out?’ And that new thing was Lashley at the time.
“He was on the rise. He’d finally reached the top. He was where I was at a year prior, and I had constantly been in the title scene for a year and a half now, how are [the fans] going to react? And that kind of goes through your head real quick before you walk out.
“And to walk out and hear the big cheer, and hear the big response, I decided on the fly to do the 3-2-1 with the crowd live before I stuck the sword in the stage, which was really cool. You know, walking down [the ramp] you can see me get emotional and almost teary-eyed, almost actually crying to be honest, before I got in the ring. . . It was just such a great night for everybody.”
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