WWE star Drew McIntyre talks putting himself under the microscope to get back into shape before return

The last 12 months for WWE star Drew McIntyre have been brutal – and that may be an understatement.

McIntyre had a brutal blood feud with CM Punk and launched into another rivalry with Damian Priest that led to him getting glass in his eye before WrestleMania 41. He won that match, and the two settled the score in a steel cage at the last "Saturday Night’s Main Event" show in May.

Drew McIntyre looks on during Wrestlemania 39 Night 2 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on April 2, 2023. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)

The match with Priest was the last anyone saw of McIntyre before he returned on "Friday Night SmackDown" last week. He took aim at Randy Orton and received an RKO when "The Legend Killer" felt he crossed the line. It will come to a head when McIntyre is back in action to face off against Orton at "Saturday Night’s Main Event" this weekend.

McIntyre said when he pops his shirt off at the premium live event, fans will "see all the work that’s gone into the physique and the movement that’s gone on in the gym."

"I honestly feel better than I felt in about, minimum, six or seven years. During this time off, I’ve had a chance to step back and look at everything from an outside perspective – the product itself and more specifically me because I’m only competing against myself as far as I’m concerned," he told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. 

"And I’ve realized, wow, OK, I’ve got some areas I really need to improve upon even though, from a fan’s perspective they might say, ‘Well, look at your 2024 going into 2025 on the microphone, in the ring, physique-wise compared to everybody else.’ I said no, no, no. I might look good compared to everybody else but I was not giving it … I’d say I was giving it 65%."

McIntyre said he used to gloat to fitness magazines about how he was able to eat anything he wanted and maintained his incredible physique and stay in shape in the ring.

Drew McIntyre, right, kicks CM Punk during the Men’s Royal Rumble match at Tropicana Field in St. Petersberg, Florida, on Jan. 27, 2024. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)

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However, during his time away from the ring, McIntyre came to realize that he needed to cut all of that out if he wanted to return to the top of the WWE mountain.

"For the first time in my life, I’ve brought in somebody to start the diet the right way. I’ve brought in somebody to kick my a-- in the gym. I brought somebody in to start doing rehab at the gym, stretching things I’ve never done in my life and it’s unbelievable what it’s opened in my body and feel exactly the way I did probably like before I won the Royal Rumble in 2020. The way I’m moving about now, in general, I feel unbelievable," he said.

McIntyre vowed he will be showing the world what he’s capable of in the next run.

"I’m a little angry with myself that I didn’t see it when I was in the system, but it really takes just taking a step back, outside of your routine, look at everything objectively and saying, ‘Where can I improve?’ … When I looked in that mirror, I was like you’re not giving it your all, your diet is abysmal, you’re staying up to six some nights when you don’t need to be you’re not getting that sleep. Give it your all and then when you leave, you know you left no stone unturned.

Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns, right, during the Men’s Royal Rumble match during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Feb. 1, 2025. (Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images)

"And the fact that I’m not, I don’t even feel in the top three right now, never mind the top 10. If I’m not No. 1, then I’m quite frankly p---d off and it’s on me and it all changes this Saturday."

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.