Drew McIntyre Recalls The Ups And Downs Of Being WWE Champion During Pandemic Era

At WrestleMania 36, Drew McIntyre captured the WWE Championship in a historic victory over Brock Lesnar, but unlike the champions that came before him, McIntyre had to celebrate in an empty arena due to the lockdown restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new interview with "The Masked Man Show," was surprisingly understanding about the crowdless celebration. 

"It's not what I dreamed of when I was a kid, obviously. I didn't sit there in Scotland fantasizing that one day I'm gonna main event WrestleMania and win the World title and nobody's gonna be there," McIntyre said. "But it was just a necessity for the time."

He went on to recall how WWE wanted to become an escape from all of the uncertainty for their fans during the pandemic. As champion McIntyre bore much of the responsibility for that escape. 

"I've met so many people that have told me WWE literally saved their lives because it gave them that constant every single week during such an uncertain time," McIntyre claimed, also noting that the company's success was a group effort.

Drew McIntyre is proud of his WWE Championship victory, but he admitted that he still wants to have his moment with the fans. He had a brief taste of it during WrestleMania XL, when he won the World Heavyweight Championship, before it was unceremoniously taken from him by Damian Priest.

"I had that moment with Seth, and that moment with the fans chanting, you know, 'You deserve it.'" McIntyre recalled. "And getting down on my knee, and presenting the title to my wife. And she's been such a big part of the journey – the reason I'm the man I am today – and hugging my brother, who was my first tag team partner."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Masked Man Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.