411’s WWE Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions Report: Drew McIntyre on His First WWE Run Failing, Winning The WWE Title with No Fans, More

411’s WWE Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions Report: Drew McIntyre

-As expected Roman/KO was amazing and I want Round 2 at The Royal Rumble. Now the Road to Mania can officially begin with Royal Rumble season upon us. Last year Drew McIntyre had the rocket strapped to him at The Rumble and now he gets to join Stone Cold for the latest Broken Skull Sessions. Let’s get to it!

-Air Date: 12.20.20
-Run Time: 1:37:59

-Austin welcomes Drew to the show and says it has been a long time since they crossed paths. Drew says it was a bit ago and it just involved Drew saying “hello sir” and shaking Austin’s hand. They talk about winning the WWE Title a 2nd time and Drew says he feels the same as he did the first time. The biggest thing was that his wife was on The ThunderDome video screen and could see it live.

-Drew brings out the Championship Belt and hands it to Austin. He says he loves the weight of it and how it feels. He mentions when he spoke to Taker he mentioned he was a 7 time Champion, but you never thought of Taker with the belt. Austin wants to know what the belt means to Drew. He says that he lived his dream but took a unique way to get there. He says that no matter what anyone says this is the #1 Title in the business and goes over the big names that have held it. Austin loves that Drew is a historian and says winning the title is a shoot and Drew agrees. He talks about being the horse pulling the wagon at an unprecedented time in the history of the company. Austin wants to know if Drew has ever worn a Title through the airport. He says back in 2009 he won the IC Title and Randy told him and Sheamus (who won the WWE Title the same night from Cena) they had to wear their titles to Applebee’s that night. Awesome! Drew was loving it and called it a heck of a night so he thanks Randy.

-Austin wants to know about the Drew and A show. Drew says the company came to him because of all the down time with an idea for the show. Drew was all for it, but wanted to pick the guests as he is a weird guy and is into things like ghost hunting and sharks. It was a way for the fans to find a way to relate to Drew other than knowing he is an angry, hairy man from Scotland. We get high-lights from Drew interviewing Matthew McConaughey who grew up a World Class fan. It seems he was kicked out of an arena for throwing tomatoes at Skandar. He snuck back in and was front row and spat on King Kong Bundy. Awesome! Back to the interview and Drew loved the interview with Matthew and hopes people check out the episode.

-Austin throws up a photo of a young Drew meeting Yokozuna. He was amazed seeing him at the show as he had never seen someone that big. He was 13 at the time but also picked up on the fact that Yoko didn’t phone in a house show in Scotland and that stuck with him. Next picture is Drew as a kid holding up a magazine with Austin on the cover and then him sleeping in his bed that was covered in Stone Cold blankets and sheets. Austin thanks Drew for that and appreciates that he made such an impression on Drew that a boy from Scotland would buy sheets with his face on them.

-Drew says he always had the dream that he was going to wrestle one day and people would say one day he would think of a real job. At 15 Drew made the decision and it was hard as there were only 2 wrestling schools in the UK at the time. He had to get permission from his mother and thought he would be the man. Instead he did chain wrestling and realized it wasn’t as easy as he thought. He trained in a tiny ring and within 8 months was having his first match. The deal was that Drew would work with the former WWE guys that were still working the Indys because he was the biggest guy. The one that helped the most was Jake Roberts who pointed to Drew and told everyone “this guy might make it.” That only solidified the idea he was going to make it but he did get a degree in criminology to have something else, but the goal was always wrestling.

-He then met Sheamus and they made a plan to get to the WWE together. Sheamus was much bigger as his dad was a bodybuilder. Sheamus taught him how to improve his body and diet and Drew would help him in the ring. They started wrestling all over the UK and finally got a call to come to America.

-Sheamus was his in to the WWE and was told to lie about his weight or height and Austin says when you are 6’5” you don’t have to lie. Drew says he lied as he was 235 and said he was 250. He got to a WWE try-out and got to work with Sheamus while Taker was outside the ring laughing. In his mind he was having a horrible match because of Taker’s reaction, but he gets told the WWE is interested and to comeback in 6 months. So 6 months later they return in better shape and slow things down from their last match. Johnny Ace pulls him aside and says “we are thinking about signing you” and Drew says “I think I’m going to let you.” Austin cracks up at the story and I don’t blame him.

-Drew gets signed and sent to OVW. He gets asked to work in the ring with a heel they wanted the writers to see. They then ask Drew to cut a promo and a week later he gets a phone call from The Fink. He was told he was getting put on the road with SmackDown. He thought this was normal, but Al Snow told him this was a mistake and this wasn’t normal. He needed more seasoning and nobody gets called up after just a week. Drew learned quickly he had a lot to learn as he had no clue what a hard camera. Austin says he never had to work a hard camera and that has only been a recent thing. His thought was the production crew was good enough to catch anything he did no matter what side of the ring it was. Funny how that worked back then compared to now.

-Drew kept telling anyone who listened that he needed to go to FCW and they finally sent him. He puts over working with Dr. Tom and that gives Austin a chance to tell a Dr. Tom story. His first ride with Dr. Tom was complete silence as he was the new guy and Tom wasn’t going to drop knowledge yet. As the car rides continued, Dr. Tom gave Austin a ton of insight about the business and character work.

-Sept 25, 2009: Vince McMahon brings Drew McIntyre out on SmackDown with an over the top introduction and says Drew will be a future World Heavyweight Champion. Austin says that is quite a spot to be put in and wants to know what Drew thought. Drew says it wasn’t as abnormal as it should be because he was used to being in the top spot. This just seemed to be the thing for Drew McIntyre. He never felt the pressure the way he should have.

-Austin throws it to footage of Drew working on a promo with Fit Finlay with everyone watching and he pretends to fire a water bottle at Vince, who ducks. Austin laughs as he got Vince on that one. Drew says it was during promo school and at the end of each class they had to cut a one minute promo on a topic Fit picked. He was looking for a big finish and went with the water bottle idea. Austin says that Vince was on to something when calling Drew the Chosen One, but it was going to take time for Drew to bring it out.

-Vince told Drew that Taker was going to be his mentor and to listen to him. The idea was to build towards an eventual match between them which was supposed to me Mania XXVI, but they opted to go with Shawn/Taker II. I was there for that show! Drew mentions his mom got sick with cancer and things started spiraling out of control. He kept all that to himself and didn’t let the company know. Taker told him to stop playing wrestler and be the wrestler and that took a long time for him to understand. He was always a deer in the headlights thinking of the next move and wouldn’t let the crowd in. To him the advice was like hearing a riddle and he didn’t understand was Taker was trying to tell him. Taker also kept telling him that less is more and that he needed to let things breath. He was so panicked that he kept thinking more was needed and again, it took a long time before he figured that out.

-Drew says the plan was for him and Taker at Mania, but it was a blessing it didn’t happen because he wasn’t ready. He ended up in Money in The Bank and was going to win, but that was changed as the office felt it was too obvious. Again, I will tell the story that I ran into Drew and his (former) wife at the airport the next day and not wanting to be a bother I just told him “good match” and he thanked me. Drew was bummed about not winning the match and just added to what he was going through at the time.

-3MB next and Drew says that it started around 2012 or so. The idea was to give Heath a group and names originally tossed around were Fandago and Ambrose. On man, Ambrose may have walked out only a few months into that run had it happened. Vince didn’t like those choices and wanted Jinder and Drew. The issue was Drew had a broken wrist and needed surgery so he couldn’t get physical even though he was a heater now. He loved the run with Heath and Jinder and what they did together.

-June 12, 2014: Drew gets released from his WWE contract after an 8 year run. Austin asks how it hit him and Drew says he had a lot of emotions as 3MB was all over the TV and they were fulfilling their role. The biggest emotion was that he let Vince down and his family down. He put it all on himself and he didn’t know what to do as all he knew was wrestling. He was worried about telling his girlfriend (now wife) and father. He then made it a goal to build himself back up. Austin asks if he needed to fall on his ass and Drew says he needed to step outside the bubble. He put it all on what he did and didn’t do. He knew next time he needed to give it his all. He needed to get out from under the microscope and rebuild himself. Austin says the call from Paul to go to ECW was a life saver and Drew had that same call from the promoter of ICW. He wanted to be the face of that company and his plan was to be a traveling World Champion like Ric Flair. Austin shows the clip from ICW of Drew showing up and the crowd just loses it. Drew cuts a promo about what is best for business and shows more personality on the mic than he ever did in his first WWE run. “I am the fucking business.” He promises to take ICW to next level when he wins the ICW Title. He promises to take this across the world and he wants everyone to know he is making a stand for pro-wrestling as it doesn’t need to be about the machine. Austin says the promo gave him goosebumps and Drew says that was 100% him as he had a chip on his shoulder and was ready to unleash fire. He admits he was terrified backstage and his wife asked him if he believed what he was about to say and he told her he did. He then cut a 20 minute promo.

-Austin says timing is everything because everyone wanted to ride Drew from 3MB and just ICW wanted the real Drew. Austin asks about that climb back and Drew says his schedule made what he did in WWE look like child’s play. He was going all over the world and was using social media to get himself over. He was the champion of 7 different companies at one point as he wanted to lift these companies up while they helped rebuild him. His goal was to be the #1 guy outside the WWE and wanted people to think Drew Galloway when they thought of Indy wrestling. As his confidence grew he stopped planning everything he would say and do.

-Drew brings up TNA and says the idea was to be the same guy he had been in every other promotion at that point. Austin asks what Drew’s brand was at that point. For Drew he wanted to show the world what was wrestling was about and he knew he would end up back in the WWE. He had an offer to head to Japan and Regal told him to talk to Hunter before making his next move. Hunter was proud of what he achieved and how he had grown as a man and both felt it was time to come home. Austin says you want them to call you instead of you calling them. Drew was proud that Regal had been watching him and he was sold quickly on going to NXT. They show the footage of Drew sitting in the crowd at Takeover and Drew admits he was scared at first because there was no pop. He found out that day he was going to be at the show but he also had to do an EVOLVE show. He had no time to think until he got to the seat and then he started to freak out about the fans forgetting him, so the smile was legit when the pop happened.

-Austin asks about NXT and Drew says he followed NXT and he wanted to be there because that was the hardcore fans that knew him. He says Vince respected that Drew wanted to go back there and Drew says he also knew Shawn Michaels was there as well. He says what happens in Shawn’s class stays in Shawn’s class.

-Footage from Roode vs Drew where Drew wins The NXT Title with The Claymore. Drew says it was the vision he had in his head and everything was going to plan. Austin asks about The Claymore and where it came from. Drew thanks his 3MB run and tells a story of wearing those tight leather pants for the first time. He was going to do a running boot and realized his crotch was going to split, so he kicked up his other leg. He actually knocked himself out on the move and was told if he could figure out how to do the move without killing himself he would be on to something. Austin says that is unbelievable and tells how Michael Hayes showed him The Stunner one day. He started using it and when he would drink beer his shorts would get too tight and he ended up kicking Vince in the balls. Fantastic! Vince ate a ton of stunners and Austin kicked him in the balls countless times.

-Austin asks if there was a conversation between Drew and Vince when he made his RAW return. Drew mentions there wasn’t really anything said. He was under the ring waiting to come out to help Dolph and he was relieved when the fans popped for him. He went to Gorilla and gave Vince a hug and he Vince told him “welcome home.”

-Royal Rumble 2020: Austin calls it one of the best Rumbles in years. We pick up footage of Drew making his entrance and having the stare down with Brock. Drew says he used wrestling Brock at Mania as a goal when he was working outside the company. Brock eats a Claymore to send him packing to a massive pop and then Drew eliminates Roman to win the entire thing. The rocket was firmly attached at that point.

-Drew knew he could look good standing next to Brock and like he belonged but he knew Brock had Paul and that meant he needed to be on his game as far as promos. COVID hits as we all know and Mania gets changed. Drew says he was in Scotland filming a commercial when he got the call they needed to pull him out and back to the US. Drew wanted to get the commercial filmed so had everyone wake up early in the morning to get it done so he could get back to the US.

-They show a photo of Drew and Brock staring down and Drew says he was talking a lot of trash as he stayed in character. He believed Drew McIntyre could beat Brock’s ass even if in real life it wouldn’t happen.

-More COVID talk as Drew talks about how angry he was over the change. It wasn’t until he watched TV and saw sports shutting down that he realized how bad this was. He made himself take a step back and told himself to be a grown up. They world needed anything at that point and if his story could do that it was worth it. He talks about Mania and how it was a skeleton crew with no fans and he had to get himself fired up. He could see Brock pacing backstage and once his music hit it was like a switch turned on. He has never been more focused and credits Heyman and Brock for making a new Super Star. This was a high impact match full of German Suplexes and Claymores. Drew wins the WWE Title after a 4th Claymore. Drew says the world will never forget The WrestleMania When the World Stood Still and knows he will eventually get the moment with the crowd.

-Drew talks about how he has heard guys who won the Title always had that private moment back in the hotel room and with no fans Drew had it right there in front of everyone at home. He took the time to look at the camera and thank everyone at home. Austin feels it was the right call for Drew to break the 4th wall. He credits everyone for getting through that Mania without fans. I agree as it still is surreal to think they pulled off that Mania with no fans and while The ThunderDome has been great I wonder how it would have been for that Mania.

-They move to talk of Randy Orton and Drew knew he would learn from the feud. He puts Orton over for being a master of all the little things. He credits this feud for making him a top Super Star. They show a promo from RAW where Drew calls Randy a selfish prick and Austin was all for that promo as it was based in real life. Drew says that promo was important to him as he was at a low point years ago and nobody offer a hand or an ear. It wasn’t necessarily Randy, but he knew of Randy’s reputation back then and what the internet fans thought of Orton so he used all that. Drew says that Randy is a leader now and he hates being called that. Austin doesn’t know why guys hate that label. Drew says that he doesn’t realize he is Randy Orton and Edge has said that for years about Randy.

-Drew accepts that he is a leader now and he wants to lead by example. He started breaking the 4th wall instead of playing to imaginary fans in the building and would mess with the announcers since they were the only ones in the building. His goal was to throw things at the wall to see what sticks because nothing was normal, so why do things the way they are always done. Austin loves hearing that and brings up when he decided to stands on Taker’s symbol and surf which was out of character for what he did (yes they show footage of it). Austin says he would take advantage of any prop that was there and he applauds Drew for that. Drew says that he gets ideas from his wife who isn’t really a fan and will use anything he can find that is outside the box. His drive is to help the company in any way and he runs off all the different demos that watch the show and he wants to get people who don’t watch wrestling to watch. He tries to learn everything that goes into making a show and puts over everyone that makes them look each week.

-Austin wants to talk promos and says Drew’s feelers are where they should be. He cues up a promo that Drew cut before Hell in a Cell and says this promo sums up Drew. He loved that Drew had the WWE Title on his shoulder and he was setting the stage for the match while putting Randy over in a backhanded way. Austin says Drew made him care about the title, himself and his opponent. Drew says that is the ultimate compliment and his goal is make the WWE Title mean something. Austin says belittling your opponent is easy to do and it’s about telling stories and building to matches. Austin says Drew is one of the best if not the best promo in the world right now. Drew is blown away by that and says that all he could think when Brock had the title was that he wasn’t there. He states again that his goal is make the WWE Title mean something. Austin thinks Drew and Roman are both doing great in carrying their titles and making them mean something.

-They talk about the 2nd Title Win and Austin feels that elevated Drew to another level. Drew mentions the WWE Title hadn’t changed hands on RAW in 5 years and we see the finish of the match. Drew says winning it back was a seal of approval that he was a top guy. Austin asks if Drew is better chasing or holding the Title and Drew knows faces chasing is better, but the fans seems to like him having it. Austin agrees as he thinks Drew comes off better holding the title and fighting off challengers. Drew says winning the WWE Title will never get old and his character needed to lose the Title to show some resolve.

-Austin shows two photos of Roman and Drew staring each other down (one from Mania and other from Survivor Series). Austin wants to know what the difference was between the two matches. Drew says that he knew who he was for the second match and he was still searching in the first one. He mentions the Mania match was all about Roman as it should have been as he was coming back from his illness. That was the business that night and they needed to feature Roman to show that he was back. The second match he was confident in his ability and they both feel they should be the top guy. They help each other out because they want to pull each other up.

-Austin asks if The ThunderDome helps and Drew says it helps massively. It gives an atmosphere to the arena and it is as close to normal as they can get. They show footage from the match and you just know they are going to touch on this pairing down the road again. Drew says the story was that he wasn’t the same guy as their Mania match and that he was on the same level as Roman. The story was made that Roman had to cheat to win, yet Drew still hasn’t gotten a win over Roman yet, but Roman knows Drew is on his level now. Drew and Austin talk about building a story in a match and not just throwing in a bunch of crap for no reason.

-Austin puts over Drew’s ability to sell even though he is one of the biggest guys on the roster. Drew says he is trying to convey sympathy and as a face you have to sell. It is coming across exactly as Austin is stating it. Austin says that the way Drew works doesn’t remind him of anyone right now and Drew takes that as a compliment.

-Back to Roman/Drew with Drew catching a charging Reigns with a keylock. Austin popped for it as he loved seeing some submission stuff. Drew says he has fun trying to figure out what he can do with each opponent as far as he wanted to beat Randy with a wrestling hold because he won “The Greatest Match Ever” against Edge.

-Austin wants to know what Drew is hoping for in 2021 and Drew responds “fans.” Austin agrees and everyone around the world does as well. Drew can’t wait to get fans back and can’t wait to get back on the road. He calls the fans the #1 Super Star in the WWE. Drew also wants to see one of the Big 4 PPVs show up in The UK. There is no reason as far as he is concerned not to do it and he is going to keep pushing until it is done.

-Austin brings up that Drew is 35 years old and has 19 years of experience. He wants to know what the future holds for Drew. He wants to be able to wrestle until he is 50 years old and he isn’t a guy that wants to leave for Hollywood. He has only ever wanted to be a wrestler and he will do it for as long as he can.

-They wrap things up as Austin says hard work pays off and he wishes Drew nothing but the best.

-This was good, but on the lower end of this series because Drew’s story has been covered recently with WWE documentaries and nothing new was really touched on outside of a few things. Drew is also a young guy still and I think these interviews work better with legends who have decades worth of stories to tell. That doesn’t mean this isn’t worth a watch because it gives you a great idea of what Drew has gone through and shows how comfortable he is now in his current role. The man deserves a ton of credit for being the man that has pulled the WWE along in this COVID era. Thanks for reading!