Drew McIntyre Says Talent Can’t Just Read Scripts Verbatim: ‘You’ve Gotta Make It Your Own’

– Drew McIntyre appeared on the NotSam Podcast for a new interview and pushed back on reports that WWE talent is required to just read scripts verbatim. Speaking with Sam Roberts, McIntyre said that he follows John Cena’s advice that talent has to make the promos they’re given their own.

The perception that talent in WWE is stymied by having to read scripts verbatim instead of being given talking points isn’t new, but it was brought into focus by Jon Moxley’s appearance on Talk is Jericho. McIntyre didn’t directly reference Moxley’s comments but said that he makes sure that he comes through in his promos and he has to figure out how to make promos his own. Highlights from McIntyre’s comments are below, along with the full podcast:

On being able to put more of himself in his character: “I think that’s a big difference about these days [as opposed to his first run]. You know, I feel like as much as everybody reads online that you’re handed these scripts and you have to say everything you know, verbatim and word for word, and you’ve got no say in who you are. That’s not really true. It’s like, I’ve been kind of observing like with what John Cena’s been saying recently that you’ve gotta take what you’re given and make it your own, and put you into it. Because if you don’t put you into it, it’s not gonna feel real to you. And if it doesn’t feel real to you, it doesn’t feel real to the audience.”

On taking scripts and putting his own mark on them: “That’s what’s pretty cool about right now is, I’m glad someone like yourself sees Drew Galloway in Drew McIntyre. Because everything I’m given, I assure you, that comes on the screen, especially promos etc., is not exactly what was on the script. So it’s up to me to figure out how I put Drew Galloway in that, how am I gonna make this real to me? Even if it’s something that is obviously completely a story. I gotta find something real. Something I can latch onto. Because if I don’t latch onto it and I don’t believe it, the audience don’t believe it. I think everyone’s gotta start thinking that way.”

On Cena talking about making promos your own: “If you see interviews of like, Cena, and he says those kinds of things, I guess when I was younger, I would have said, ‘Well, that’s because you’re John Cena.’ But now as you get older, light bulbs start going off. And you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I actually get it now.’ It’s like, when I was younger, the Undertaker is somebody who would give me advice, such as when I was 23, 24, ‘Stop playing wrestler out there.’ ‘I don’t understand! I’m not playing wrestler, I am a wrestler!’ And as you get older, the light bulb starts to go off. I’m out there trying to memorize moves. One look in my eyes, I’m not in the moment, I’m clearly not feeling it. The crowd is clearly not feeling it. It took me a while before those light switches started going off. Once they start going off, that’s when you start putting yourself into it. That’s when you start getting over. That’s when the people start believing in you, and that’s when you start making money. ”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit NotSam Wrestling with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.