Drew McIntyre explains how WWE scripted promos really work

Okay, maybe now the long awaited Drew McIntyre push is finally here.

Heading into the 2020 Royal Rumble, McIntyre has positioned himself as one of the favorites to win the 30-man over the top rope battle royal. Sure McIntyre hasn’t won on pay-per-view since 2018, but all that work was done as a heel.

McIntyre has made subtle tweaks to his character over the past few weeks. In an interview with TV Insider, The Scottish Psychopath dives in deep into what has changed creatively for him.

“I didn’t ever say I was a good guy or bad guy. The thing now is that I’m giving them a little more of the real me. When I first came back to Raw, I was serious all the time. I was talking about eating carcasses and the like is not necessarily the real me. I was a strong bad guy for the good guys to wrestle. I had a lot of big moments including at WrestleMania. Over the past couple of months it was made clear to me by the boss himself, Paul Heyman and all of creative that they wanted me to show them the real me.

When I got the okay to finally be myself, that’s when I started loosening up out there and having fun. I started to show Drew Galloway, the real me. The one who was successful outside the company and wound up successful in NXT. I think when the crowd saw me relaxing and having fun, they started having fun with me. That’s the key there. In the past they couldn’t relate to this giant, hairy, scary Scotsman that beats people up all the time. They see my personality. What you are seeing now on TV is the real me.”

McIntyre would then dive into the long held criticism that WWE over-scripts the promos.

“I think the biggest one is that you’re given a script and are told to read every single line exactly how it is written. That’s not true at all for anybody. You’re given a guideline. It’s up to you to know who you are and put that into your own words and present the message how your character would convey it. The reason you wouldn’t know to do that is because you don’t understand the character or the situation.

The ones who start publicly blasting it are mostly the ones who can’t quite figure it out. You do have that freedom. It’s obviously within the confines of the story. You can’t go crazy and say whatever and it makes no sense with the story you’re trying to tell. You can get your message out there. It’s a lot more loose environment out there. Now go out there and get yourself over. That’s the thing if you can, you’re going to do really well right now.”

Hearing the WWE described as a ‘loose environment’ to work within is not something you hear all too often, in any context, whatsoever. Almost ever.

The change in Drew McIntyre over the past month has been pretty clear, but has WWE’s policy on writing wrestler promos and their delivery changed recently? Have you noticed a difference?