India is all set to witness yet another WWE spectacle as several superstars, including the current SmackDown women’s champion Rhea Ripley, and WWE legend John Cena are lined up to be in action at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. While the event appears to be promising, and should be the case, many are traveling to the country for the first time, including Cena himself.
Amid them is a name that has always been a huge fan of India – none other than former WWE champion Drew McIntyre. In the lead-up to last year’s Clash at the Castle, a pay-per-view event held in Cardiff, Wales, McIntyre, in an interaction with The Hindustan Times, had expressed his strong desire to visit India and connect with the fans. A few months later, the superstar fulfilled his wish and travelled to India, albeit for a commercial shoot that also featured Bollywood icons John Abraham and Varun Dhawan. Having already acted with two of the most popular stars, is McIntyre ready for a big break in Bollywood?
“I mean if the opportunity arises, I’m always going to explore it. I’m just hearing now, the commercials with John Abraham winning a bunch of awards. I never knew but they were just telling me now. It’s been winning a lot of awards. It was so much fun to film those commercials, and the process was fun to see. The result was incredible. And I just had the opportunity to work in a movie in Budapest recently, I can’t give too many details but keep your eyes out and it’ll be coming soon. And you never know what the future holds for Drew in Bollywood, but I’m open to everything,” said McIntyre responding to a query by Hindustan Times at a media gathering at Hyatt, Hyderabad earlier this afternoon.
McIntyre addresses reports about his WWE contract
As McIntyre graces India for the Superstar Spectacle and continues his regular appearances on Monday Night Raw in recent weeks, rumours have circulated about his potential decision not to renew his WWE contract. Addressing this matter in response to a newspaper inquiry, the former WWE Champion said: “I mean, I keep reading the internet myself. I just saw something earlier. The internet keeps talking about my future, I guess. But my focus is on the here and now like I don’t look to the future, I don’t look to the past, I look to the present. And my job right now is just making sure we give everybody in Hyderabad the best show possible and I’ll continue to give the best performance I can give at every show and I can see I don’t plan to be anywhere else. That’s as much as I can give.”
McIntyre has consistently expressed that being part of a live event in India is a “bucket list moment” for him, emphasizing the incredible warmth and support he has received from Indian fans, especially during his championship reign. “I mean for WWE to be here, it’s very important. We’ve not had a live event since 2017, but we’re here now. And for me, this is a bucket list moment. I’ve wanted to wrestle in India my entire life. The chance to come to India in November for the first time had such a great time and such a great experience.
“And I’d already felt the love from the Indian fans through social media. And the thousands of messages I’ve got over the years, especially when I was WWE champion and the amount of love from the fans to feel it in person in Mumbai was unreal. And now, to be back, that same feeling when I’m walking through the airport and I must have taken 200 pictures walking through the airport. Just the amount of WWE fans we have here is unbelievable,” added McIntyre.