During a recent appearance on Huge Pop! Radio, WWE star Drew McIntyre opened up about the mentorship he received from The Undertaker early in his career, revealing one piece of advice that stayed with him for years.
McIntyre recalled that when he was just 24 years old, Vince McMahon paired him with Undertaker as a mentor.
At the time, he didn’t fully understand the wisdom being passed on. “When I was 24, he [Undertaker] was my mentor. Vince put him in charge of me, and I’d ask for advice. I’d be talking in riddles or whatever, and the big one that always stuck in my mind was: ‘Stop playing the wrestler and be the wrestler.’”
McIntyre admitted the lesson didn’t click right away. “At the time, I thought, ‘I’m in a wrestling ring, I’m doing wrestling — how am I not being a wrestler? I’m so confused right now.’ It took years for the light bulb to go off. I told him last week when I saw him that I wished I’d had the same wrestling IQ back then that I have now. We could talk like peers now, but at the time I just had no idea what he was talking about.”
Expanding on the advice, McIntyre explained that too many performers focus on moves rather than embodying their character and connecting with the audience. “A lot of people go out there and just play wrestler. People watching might see them do pretty moves and think, ‘I enjoy watching this guy’ or ‘I enjoy watching this girl.’ They enjoy the performance aspect, but they’ll never get truly emotionally invested unless the performer is present, knows who they are as a character, and is selling the story, emotion, and action they want to convey.”
McIntyre emphasized that true success comes not from athletic displays alone, but from creating an emotional connection with the audience. “If you can’t fully embody that character and be the wrestler instead of playing the wrestler, you’re never truly going to make it to the main event scene. And if you do make it because you’re such a freak athlete, you’re one injury away from not being able to do the stuff that got you this reaction [polite claps] instead of this reaction [deep emotional connection]. Clapping is one thing, but making people feel with their heart and think with their head is another. That’s when you truly get over and make waves.”
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