Drew McIntyre Reveals How Much Kurt Angle Helped His Career

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Drew McIntyre spoke about how Kurt Angle helped his his career during his time in both TNA and WWE by making him look great in their matches. Here are highlights:

On his girlfriend making him focus on what was important after a neck injury in September 2016: “Things were bad even before I left WWE. I was going out and partying too often, and I was not dedicating myself to my work. By that point, I’d started working harder, but it wasn’t enough. She made me realize I still wasn’t where I needed to be. I cut out all the negatives, and I started changing my body. All of a sudden, I was flooded with all these opportunities. Months after that, I was speaking with WWE.”

On Kurt Angle helping him: “I don’t know why, but Kurt chose to work with me for one of his final matches in TNA, but he made me look like a million bucks. Then, a few years later in WWE, he made me look like an absolute killer. I humiliated Kurt and made him tap out to his own ankle lock. I can never thank Kurt enough for what he has done and continues to do for me.”

On attending Shawn Michaels’ class in NXT even though he didn’t have to: “I wanted to be there and I wanted to improve. So I went to Shawn and asked if I could join his class. I would have done anything to get that one-on-one time with him. “The first rule of Shawn’s class is that you don’t talk about Shawn’s class. But what I can tell you is it is an environment where everyone pushes each other very hard and you do receive honest criticism. No one has the mind that Shawn does in the ring. I looked at that period of time as getting my PhD in wrestling.”

On how this run with WWE will be different: “I wouldn’t change a thing about my first run in WWE. Those experiences turned me into the man I am today. It’s all part of my journey. I started young, I worked with a lot of veterans that are no longer here, and I learned how to be a leader backstage. Now I have one other vision, and that is being at the top of the card and helping build talent for the future. I’ve never had a world title shot, ever, in my WWE career, so I’m going to need to win the Money in the Bank contract to take that opportunity. In order to spread my message of eradicating complacency to the superstars complaining on social media, I need to become champion.”