Drew McIntyre’s first trip to India recently has left the WWE superstar enamoured by the vibrant culture, with the whiff of Indian cuisine and revelry of Indian cinema finding a special way to his heart. And he is in no mood to end his love affair with the country.
“I have been looking forward to coming to India for such a long time, and my trip has been great. It is nice to finally come to the motherland of Indian food and get to try so many different dishes. I love the food. The people are so nice. And there are such passionate WWE fans. I didn’t take more than five steps without taking a selfie,” McIntyre tells us.
The wrestler, who is one of the most followed WWE stars of late, was in the country for work, but took out time for all things touristy. He also added a filmy twist to his trip with a meeting with Indian actors John Abraham and Karthi.
Opening up about his love for Bollywood, he says, “I have watched a couple of Bollywood movies, and I have to confess that it is a visual thrill ride…In fact, I have been learning some dance moves, and trying the local food. I tried vada pav. Someone asked me to skip eating the green chilli, but I wanted to do it the Indian way, so I ate the chilli, and I survived it,” he chuckles, adding, “I have learned some sweet dance moves. When I get back to the stage, I think you can expect some contemporary Bollywood moves from me on TV”.
What about entering Bollywood? “Well, that would be awesome and exciting. Maybe this is just phase one for that,” he teases.
Apart from the culture, McIntyre also experienced the love of the WWE Universe, and is proud that the country has such passionate fans.
“The passion is just extraordinary. We do have a lot of passionate fans across the world. But Indian fans are extremely passionate, which reminds me of the fans back home. But there are more people here. They are much louder, much nicer,” says McIntyre, who made his WWE debut in 2007.
In his career of around two decades, he has seen a lot of ups and downs, and shares that seen the world of WWE, which airs in India on Sony Sports.
“It keeps getting bigger and bigger. When I first came to WWE in 2007, I was 22. I thought it couldn’t get any bigger. And every single year, it has just grown. Now, we are in 2022, we do multiple stadium shows every year. It’s just incredible and all across the world. I want to make a promise to myself and a promise to India. Now that I’m physically here for the first time, and have experienced love, I am going to make it my personal mission that we get a live WWE event here because India deserves it,” he says.
That’s because the WWE star feels “it has been so long now that I want it for myself”.
“But I also more importantly want it for the people of India. I have made a promise, and now got to keep it. You have McIntyre’s word, and it is gold,” he wraps up.
