Drew McIntyre On Winning WWE Title In Front Of Live Crowd, His Social Media Skills

Drew McIntyre won the Undisputed WWE Championship in front of a live crowd at last on WWE Smackdown earlier this month, and he recently reflected on the win. McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes on the January 9th episode of Smackdown to win the title. The victory marked his first reign with a World Title in front of a live crowd; two of his previous reigns happened during COVID, while his one live win was quickly ruined by Damian Priest cashing in on him.

McIntyre appeared on TMZ Inside the Ring and spoke about his title win and how perfectly it played out with his being able to have his first title defense in Scotland. He also spoke about the role his social media talents played into the win. You can see highlights below:

On Finally Winning The Title In Front of a Live Crowd:

“Amazing. It felt absolutely unbelievable. I think a lot of people had got to the point where they thought Drew McIntyre wasn’t going to be World Champion ever again, and was never going to hold the title in front of a live crowd was the amount of times I’ve been screwed over over the past few years.

“But I always believed I just needed the right opportunity, and Shakespeare couldn’t have written it any better the way it all went down. I beat Cody Rhodes, the face of the company, in Berlin which makes me the new face of the company. And my first title defense the next night was in Glasgow, Scotland where it all began, where I first started wrestling at 15 years old. And I was able to walk out there with the WWE Championship, and fulfill the promise I made many years ago where I told everybody back home in Scotland, ‘I’m going to return one day champion.'”

On If His Social Media Success Played a Part In Becoming Champion:

“I think everything counts, for sure. You know, the character itself, timing, your ability in the ring, your ability on the microphone, your ability to connect with fans. But at the same time, we live in the world of social media so gigantic. And if you’re not using it to its potential then — try to put this nicely — you’re an idiot.

“So I have a lot of fun on social media. I basically am just myself. I run my mouth, I talk trash on everybody. The the leash is off. When I first won the title during the pandemic, I felt like I’d reached my full form, and I was basically — I know I’m a version of myself with the volume turned up slightly. But I was still holding back a bit because I’m a bit of a bit of a crap talker… And now like, the reins are off. I’ve been running my mouth non-stop for years. Sometimes I get my wrist slapped for it backstage. I’ll say whatever I want on social media, but I don’t care because my job is very simple: entertain the fans. As long as the fans are entertained, then I’m doing my job.”

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