Drew McIntyre has been WWE Champion for 169 days.
After defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, McIntyre became the first WWE champion to hail from the British Isles.
McIntyre is far from an overnight success story. The Ayr, Scotland native, was once dubbed “The Chosen One” by Vince McMahon.
That moniker soon became the kiss of death. After leaving the WWE in 2014, McIntyre worked in other feds and in the indies, before returning in 2017 looking like a completely different performer.
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In an interview with Men’s Health, McIntyre said that his current success – in the gym and in the ring – can be traced back to that original disappointment of not living up to being “The Chosen One.”
He learned that if he wanted to be a champion “he had to work harder, in the gym and outside of it.”
McIntyre told Men’s Health he’s “not into CrossFit or any cool workout fads,” he just does the simple moves often, including flat bench press, incline dumbbells, cable flyes, bicep curls, and 21s.
“I realized I wasn’t putting as much effort in as I possibly could, so that day I changed everything about my life,” McIntyre told Men’s Health. “I started working harder inside the ring, and I started working harder, really hard actually, in the gym to change my body.”
McIntyre has been working for years to craft a physique that’s strong, durable, mobile, but still makes him look mean AF.
[via Men’s Health UK]
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