WWE superstar Drew McIntyre admits he’s honoured after becoming the first active wrestler to be inducted into the Scottish Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The Ayrshire-born grappler has become one of the biggest talents in sports entertainment and becomes the 10th inductee ahead of this weekend’s first ever WWE premier live event in Scotland.
McIntyre will wrestle at the Hydro as part of the Clash of the Castle event this weekend but he’s been inducted into the hall of fame, which was set up by wrestling historian Bradley Craig a decade ago.
And he said: “There are a couple of other hall of fames I’ve been lucky to be in. ICW is a company that’s important to me personally and there’s one in Ayr but this is the legitimate hall of fame in Scotland.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the WWE events happening in Glasgow
“There’s very few people in it and to read some of the names in there, they are genuine legends of Scottish wrestling and their contributions are incredible so the fact I’m the first active wrestler to be inducted is incredible and to be inducted in at Ibrox is blowing my freaking mind. Fighting for the world title at the weekend in the first PLE feels like Christmas and then some.”
The 39-year-old, who’s real name is Andrew Galloway, has been wrestling since he was a teenager but it was a very different experience for him back then when he had to travel to Portsmouth for training due to a lack of opportunities in Scotland.
But he played a key role in the formation of a Scottish wrestling scene with the likes of British Championship Wrestling and latterly Insane Championship Wrestling.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the Ibrox blue room and was joined by fellow Scottish wrestler Piper Niven as well as the World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman, who donned the new Rangers away kit for the ceremony while club legends Mark Hateley and Lee McCulloch were also in attendance to support him.
With the Hydro shows surely set to be a success over the weekend, could Ibrox be next on the cards for WWE if they were to host a stadium show in Scotland? That would be the dream for Drew but he’d also be happy with places such as Hampden or Murrayfield, although he admits that the Scottish weather might disrupt things a bit.
When asked if Ibrox was on his bucket list, he responded: “For me, of course. I’d be happy with anywhere but in Drew’s fantasy world then of course. At the same time I try not to bash the Rangers thing. It’s my team but first and foremost I want to give Scotland the biggest shows possible.
“It starts with the Hydro and if they are loud enough, which they will be, I can go to management and say ‘hey, look at the success of this show, look at the financials drawn in, look at how loud they were, let’s do a stadium show’ and if that’s at Hampden or Murrayfield that would be cool. We need the weather to be good though so someone stick a roof on a stadium here.”
With his McIntyre persona, he has the chance to become a world heavyweight champion in the WWE this weekend when he takes on Damian Priest at the Hydro and winning that match would be the pinnacle for him.
He continued: “That would mean everything. It would be coming full circle, it’s where I went to uni' for four years. I spent so much time between Glasgow and East Kilbride training and doing shows and when I came back when I was fired I spent all the time in Glasgow in ICW and being back in WWE and achieving all the things I wanted to already and now hitting goals I didn’t think were possible and didn’t exist. My wife isn’t going to be there unfortunately, she can’t make it so I need to take the title back to her.”
READ MORE: WWE star Piper Niven on adversity, hard knocks and Clash at the Castle
The induction was organised by Craig and witness by the Lord Provost of Glasgow Jacqueline McLaren.
Craig is the man behind the hall of fame and for him it was a no-brainer to welcome someone of Drew’s calibre to it.
He said: “Following the collapse of the old British wrestling circuit, it was incredibly hard for an aspiring Scottish talent to consider a career in wrestling. However, Drew was determined to realise his ambition and spent countless hours travelling across the country to learn how to wrestle. His dedication paid off, and he was quickly established as one of the top talents in the country.
“Drew’s greatest attribute is his capacity to learn and continuously improve. Across his career, he has adapted to changes in the professional wrestling industry and reinvented himself. As a result, he is now considered one of the greatest talents in the world. But he has also shared his learnings to teach a new generation of Scottish stars. His efforts helped to revitalise a dying industry and turn it into a thriving circuit.”
- Friday Night SmackDown airs live from the Hydro Glasgow, Friday June 14th, tune in on TNT Sports.
- Clash at the Castle: Scotland airs live from the Hydro Glasgow, Saturday June 15th, tune in on the WWE Network and TNT Sports Box Office.
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