WWE Champion Drew McIntyre 'had them all' when it came to wrestling games: 'Those War Zone days were some of the greatest days of my life'

I spoke to the current WWE Champion and only British (and by extension, Scottish) men's world champion in the company's history, Drew McIntyre, about classic wrestling games, his appearances in the series, and what matches he'd pick if 2K makes him the face of a future entry.

McIntyre debuted in the early 2000s, but before that, "was obsessed with all things wrestling," saying he would pick up "anything" he could get his hands on.

He explains when it came to the video games, "I had them all" - "If it existed, my brother and I were playing them." He singles out the likes of Attitude, Wrestlemania 2000, and No Mercy, but when it came to his "peak,” it was the game that introduced me to wrestling, 1998's WWF War Zone on PlayStation

He recalls, "You'd get four people playing at once for the first time" and recounted one of his friends who would become frustrated and throw the controller, and despite the constant 'don't try this at home' warnings on WWE TV, "he would hit reset all the time, and I would threaten to fight him, then he would suddenly back down." A tale as old as time (especially as the younger sibling on the receiving end of those threats) and, despite the brawling, McIntyre says, "those War Zone days were some of the greatest days of my life."

McIntyre made his video game debut in 2010's WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, but like many of us, he recalls "when I was a kid, that's all I cared about was making myself in the game, because I just wanted to be in the game so much." However, in the time since he's debuted in the game McIntyre, even as the games have continued to improve and add things, "to see myself grow as a character, and we're getting to the point where I'm like, man, in a few years, you might just be able to take that video game character and put it on television just to replace me. It's getting so realistic now."

And having played a bit of WWE 2K26 himself, McIntyre says, "I've always got notes every year, but this year I am tall enough, jacked enough, tanned enough, and handsome enough, it's amazing." But the little details seem to have impressed the world champion the most, as he notes how realistic the model is down to the hair on his chest: "I was like, Okay, that's pretty crazy".

Showcase of the immortals

This year's game has CM Punk on the cover, with the game's Showcase mode – a campaign in which you relive the careers of select superstars by playing iconic matches – focusing on WWE's other world champion. And naturally, his feud with McIntyre upon returning to WWE – which sent both stars straight back to the top of the industry from being such a banger – is featured, with their 2024 Hell In A Cell match being included.

This also marks McIntyre's first appearance in a Showcase mode, which he calls "a pleasant surprise," however, it's a double-edged sword for the champ, who clearly still holds a grudge. "As much as it is exciting to be part of a showcase, like 'Drew, you're in the showcase, you're going to be immortalized', and it's an amazing feature in the game. Like, wow, that's unreal." However, "it's part of CM Punk's thing." He adds, "As much as it's exciting, I'm like 'damn, that sucks,' but at least all the fans will like it. So I suffer for my art."

Since McIntyre is now a four-time world champion and Wrestlemania main eventer, it feels inevitable that he'll eventually be the subject of his own Showcase mode, so I wanted to hear straight from the horse's mouth which matches we'd see if it came to pass. "Off the top of my head, I imagine we'd need a Rumble in there," McIntyre says, referencing the 2020 Royal Rumble, which he won, saying it "was where I made it to that next level," which I'm inclined to agree with as I can't think of a more instant star making moment.

This, in turn, led to his next answer, beating Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 36, which McIntyre says he'd be interested "to see what 2K could do with it" because he "beat Brock for the title in the empty warehouse" thanks to Covid-19 restrictions, with McIntyre being one of the major players during that era. "It was such an unpredictable time when we were the escape. During that time, I was leading the charge, and I won the title in that match. So you know that empty warehouse has got to be there."

He mentions other wins like the Three Stages of Hell match (which has conveniently been added to the game again in WWE 2K26) with Cody Rhodes earlier this year, where he regained the title. Plus a hypothetical champion vs champion match with CM Punk later this year: "Maybe we'll wrestle at Crown Jewel, and I [will] stomp his head 50 times." But an integral part of the showcase is rectifying losses too, which he notes he'd love to right the wrongs of the Hell in the Cell match featured in this year's game.

Before mentioning his match choices, he said "People will probably say 'Drew, why didn't you say this," which felt pre-emptively targeted as I reminded him of 2014's barn-burner Wee-L-C to which he recalls, "People were expecting to be laughing at it." he explains, adding, "It was on the pre-show before the main show started, and when that match was over, everybody, 'oh no, we have to follow that.'"

And I had to mention one of my personal favourites of all time, the match between him, Sheamus, and Gunther at Wrestlemania 39. McIntyre calls the match another of his favorites, saying, "Sheamus and I've always dreamed of having a singles match at WrestleMania. I will always joke that that was our singles match."

At the very least, a McIntyre showcase would allow us to get his first theme song and all-timer 'Broken Dreams' in the game without unlocking it from MyFaction. He did also say he's "not against", I'm Drew (Da Be Dee) now that Joe Hendry is making his debut in the series this year.

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