Bully Ray Wants To See More Personality From Drew McIntyre In WWE
Drew McIntyre made his long-awaited return at Money in the Bank, and has since been embroiled in a feud with WWE Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER, but "The Scottish Warrior" hasn't done enough to discernably stand out with his character work, according to Bully Ray.
Speaking on McIntyre's return run on "Busted Open Radio," Ray lamented the fact that McIntyre is essentially still the same babyface wrestler he was prior to his three-month hiatus.
"I'm hoping that GUNTHER can bring out a different side of Drew — on the microphone [and] personality-wise," Ray said. "I have gone on record, there's something about Drew's personality that doesn't fully resonate. He looks the part, he fights the part, he stands there the part, he's everything the part — other than when he talks. When Drew talks, I can't get as into him as I have with everything else he has done."
Ray implored WWE's creative team to have GUNTHER "get under Drew's skin" so as to bring out a "badass" version of Drew that he'd love to see. Although Ray believes GUNTHER retaining his title at SummerSlam would be the right call to further elevate "The Ring General," he sympathized with McIntyre for being labeled as "The COVID Champion" and hopes to see him change that perception.
"He will always be the guy that had to carry the company when there was nobody there," Ray said of McIntyre. "By no fault of his, I do think it affected him."
Ray urged McIntyre to take a leaf out of Will Ospreay's book, praising the latter for cutting a passionate promo on "AEW Dynamite" ahead of his match against Kenny Omega. "Will laid out the real-life trials and tribulations he had to go through during the COVID era — just to keep doing what he loves. That's what I would love to hear coming out of Drew's [mouth]."
When McIntyre returned to WWE's main roster in 2018, he did exhibit some of the "badass" attitude Ray was referring to, albeit in the role of Dolph Ziggler's heavy. It now remains to be seen if McIntyre can tap into that persona again, or force WWE's hand into turning him heel. In recent years, the likes of Roman Reigns and Dominik Mysterio have benefitted enormously from heel turns.