New WWE RAW Tag Team Champion was asked recently about the culture surrounding the WWE work environment and instead of a politically safe answer, McIntyre took the opportunity to send a message to the WWE locker room.
“Things have changed in a lot of ways. It’s the guys who have come up through the system, mostly NXT, who are leading the force now. That’s a big difference. Everything keeps growing. The big thing for me is that I’ve grown as a person, matured and returned to make a difference. What I do notice backstage is as good a roster as we have – we have the best roster in the world, men and women – but we do have a few people that perhaps aren’t fulfilling their potential. I know this because that’s who I was during my first run with the company. And I can see it when I look around. It reminds me of myself when I didn’t realize the opportunity I had, that I was part of WWE, that this was the number one show, and I had to give it my all in and out of the ring in every possible situation, and I wasn’t. And I see that now that I’m back, and I’m trying to tell people in interviews like this. I’m trying to give the answers to everybody, and if you don’t take the answers to the question, perhaps it’s time for people to go away like I did and find themselves. And if they don’t, perhaps they don’t belong on the number one show in the world because I can assure you there are people in NXT waiting to take their spots.”
The Scottish-born superstar was also asked about his new partner, Dolph Ziggler, as well as who influenced his tag team style. McIntyre offered up an intriguing future pairing.
“It’s great with someone like Dolph Ziggler, who’s so talented and has been very start-and-stop over the years, be at a level of focus I’ve never seen him at because I know the great things he can do, and we’re doing them right now. And now we’ve added Braun Strowman, who’s achieved so much in such a short space of time. Hopefully he can learn from Dolph and I’s experience, and the three of us can really take Raw to levels it’s never been before […] For me, the obvious examples of tag teams I was a big fan of, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. I would watch them and be blown away by how incredible they were. I was a big Hart Foundation guy as a kid. Bret was my favorite wrestler. I loved their dynamic. Most of it was from my childhood because I was the biggest tag team wrestling fan as a kid. I was always impressed by the Road Warriors and Legion of Doom. They were just so large and bigger than life in every possible way. They would just destroy everybody. I always imagined myself and Braun could be a bit of a modern LOD.”
