The WWE on Netflix era kicks off Monday night at 8 p.m. ET in what’s expected to be a PLE-level show. Featuring John Cena, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, the continuation of Rhea Ripley’s rivalry with Liv Morgan, and plenty of surprises, WWE is pulling out all the stops for its move to streaming for Monday Night Raw.
“It has been treated so gigantic and it is so gigantic. The amount of people that’ll be showing up, surprises, the buzz around it is just absolutely incredible,” Drew McIntyre tells Uproxx Sports.
Monday’s move to Netflix is a platform to take WWE to new heights, with a potentially new audience to experience the thrills of sports entertainment.
For McIntyre, a featured match on the limited card is another opportunity to live up to his reputation as one of WWE’s glue guys when he steps in the ring with Jey Uso. Wherever their match falls on the card will serve as a perfect mix of entertainment and brutality to set the tone for the show.
“I’m very excited that people tuning in for the first time are going to get to see his entrance, which is very cool, theatrical. It’s like a concert or something. You get to see Drew McIntyre walk out with all the fire and flames and go, my goodness, who is that giant awesome Scottish guy,” McIntyre says. “And then he’s going to destroy Jey Uso and they’re going to go, wow, I love Drew McIntyre. He’s the greatest thing ever.”
Over the years, McIntyre has established himself as someone WWE can trust across the board. He can flex between the main event and the opening segment, wrestles quality matches, and has pieced it together on the mic as well.
“I’ve always felt comfortable with giving me anything and I’ll make it work,” McIntyre says. “I’ve had periods where I’ve been doing the opening segment and multiple backstage segments and wrestling the main event, especially, between 2020 and 2022. I was in, it felt six segments a show at times, so I’ve always felt good about that.”
The last few years have been transformative for McIntyre, who says he got to a certain point where he felt like he had shown as much of his real self as he could. That’s been flipped on its head under the new regime, led by Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
McIntyre is now at a point now where he doesn’t feel like he has to minimize parts of his personality. He can dive all the way into his character without fear of repercussions.
“I know I’d be chastised for certain things, but with the mentality, the new management, it encourages you to go all the way if you’re willing to get tugged back or maybe get slapped on the wrist every so often,” McIntyre continues. “We’re getting pushed now instead of, ‘eh, maybe we shouldn’t do that, that’s not the way we do things.’ We don’t have a way of doing things now. Let’s recreate how we do things.”
The last year and a half or so has been about McIntyre recreating himself, turning the volume up on telling the truth, whether he’s booed or cheered. That evolution in his character led to opening Night 2 of WrestleMania 40, winning the world championship (before losing it moments later), and wrapping a yearlong feud with CM Punk in one of the best Hell in a Cell matches ever.
“Some people believe it was the best cell ever. I’ve got my favorites, especially the first one, and the ‘Taker-Mankind one, for different reasons. People remember that for, fully defying death, repeatedly, within a matter of 15 minutes. And, the Triple H-Undertaker one, from a storytelling perspective, that’s what I like about it,” McIntyre reflects. “I guess the Punk and I one, it truly was justified. It truly was blood feud. It really was personal. It felt real because it was real all the way through. And we restored what Hell in a Cell was all about. I didn’t technically lose. I succumbed to blood loss and breaking my back on the steps. But also being gone for those few months, I have a very different outlook coming back now.”
McIntyre says he still can’t stand Punk and he’s going to get back to him eventually. But after months away from the ring, he says he’s returned with clarity. He’s not fighting for the fans anymore, rather he’s righting wrongs by taking out those he feels responsible for aiding in screwing him out of WWE gold in the past — the original Bloodline.
That started with an attack on Sami Zayn, leading to the duo opening WWE’s return to Saturday Night’s Main Event just a few weeks ago. It was another opportunity, McIntyre says, for him to set the stage and show a potentially new audience what WWE is all about.
“If they’re tuning into wrestling for the first time, some of our superstars, no offense, these days don’t exactly look like some of our stars of the past, not as eye grabbing. Once you get to know them, you understand the story, you start relating to them, you start liking them.” McIntyre says. “But if somebody turns up for the first time and goes, this guy looks like he works in my local McDonald’s restaurant, why is he fighting this giant guy? Put me out first. I come out with the pageantry, the kilt, the fire, and legitimately, with my boots on, six foot seven, 280 pounds.”
McInyre says especially in the match with Zayn, once the bell rings and you begin to understand who the characters are, it’s easy for fans to relate and get behind them. Until then, it’s his job to bring his larger-than-life persona to the screen to help sell the audience.
After his showdown with Zayn, McIntyre will look to take care of business with Jey Uso on Monday, representing another step toward what he calls the “main course,” and a showdown with Roman Reigns. He says despite Solo Sikoa being the reason he lost the title in Cardiff in 2022, he’s content letting their factions fight it out while he works his way through the original Bloodline.
“Let’s work our way through the guys. He’s focused on Roman specifically. I’m starting to work my way through the rest. I’m picking them off one at a time. And then eventually when the time is right, it’ll become Solo’s time,” McIntyre says.
“You watch our show now. It’s not just so black and white. It’s not this guy’s a good guy, this guy’s a bad guy. It’s very much real life, human emotion. Everything I do comes from a real place. I believe, at least most elements of everything I do, that’s why it’s easy to believe when you’re watching the show. People can understand, sometimes you don’t just agree and disagree with people. Sometimes you have a very good point, they have a very good point. And it’s going to be an interesting journey to watch how it all plays out.”
