Early in his WWE profession, Drew McIntyre successfully dreamed broken dreams as “The Chosen One.” Under one other pitched gimmick, nevertheless, his dreams could have as an alternative been put in jeopardy.
During an appearance on “No-Contest Wrestling,” McIntyre recalled the fashion-centric character idea that nearly followed him in his return to WWE’s major roster in 2009. “John Laurinaitis was Head of Talent Relations on the time and telling me at Florida Championship Wrestling, which was there prior to the NXT we all know today, the unique developmental, and he built it up. He built it up,” McIntyre said. “I used to be listening to him describe the character and thought, ‘Oh no, oh no, oh no.’ Then he went, ‘The name, The Runway Man. You are going to have your individual model runway and you are going to walk down like a model.’ I used to be picturing in my head mainly all my dreams were going to hell. The life’s work of the Scotsman, it was all happening the bathroom.”
Despite being personally against “The Runway Man” gimmick, McIntyre was still willing to play it out on-screen if then-WWE CEO Vince McMahon approved of it. While in a backstage meeting with Laurinaitis and McMahon, McIntyre specifically told McMahon that he’d make due with whatever was needed for WWE television. In the identical breath, though, McIntyre kept his head down — something McMahon looked as if it would recognize as an indication of apprehension.
“I believe [McMahon] read me like he doesn’t need to do that,” McIntyre said. “Thankfully they let me play closer to myself [as The Chosen One]. But I learned years later it was nowhere near myself since it took me until I returned to WWE after getting fired where I finally found myself as a wrestler and as a human.”
McIntyre Thoroughly Prepared For Potential Role As ‘The Runway Man’
Before Vince McMahon officially pulled the plug on presenting McIntyre as “The Runway Man,” the Scotsman did extensive online research on how one can walk like a model. To higher seem like one, he also lost about 35 kilos.
“Shane Helms, The Hurricane, described me as an avatar,” McIntyre said. “I used to have the ponytail on the time and Avatar was the massive movie. In case you painted me blue, I’d have just looked like a large avatar. I lost a lot weight. It seems I didn’t have to lose all that weight because I used to be coming in as an ass-kicking Chosen One when I assumed I used to be going to be this runway man. I used to be practicing walking the imaginary runway backstage and I used to be like, ‘Oh my god, I’ve got two left feet. That is going to utterly bomb.’
“Might have been a disaster,” he continued. “I’m wondering what I’d be doing in Scotland straight away if I used to be a runway man because I’d not have succeeded in WWE.”
In September 2009, McMahon appeared on “WWE SmackDown” to formally re-introduce McIntyre as “The Chosen One,” further describing him as very smart, handsome, aggressive, and a future World Heavyweight Champion. Though the latter element would not truly materialize until 2020, McIntyre did capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship just three months after McMahon’s proclamation.
In the current day, McIntyre is often called “The Scottish Warrior,” often donning an edgy-version of a kilt, long dark vests, and a sword.
In case you use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “No-Contest Wrestling” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.