"This is the worst idea of all time" - When Mr. McMahon saved Drew McIntyre from embarrassing WWE pitch

About a decade and a half ago, Drew McIntyre almost became a runway male model on WWE television, an idea that he thought was "the worst of all time." The Scottish Warrior detailed how former Chairman Vince McMahon saved him from adopting the gimmick in his autobiography, "A Chosen Destiny: My Story."

"Someone in the creative department had this idea that I was going to be Runway Man, a male model off the catwalk. I thought this idea was terrible. I had no connection to that persona! [...] But I did not want to lose my opportunity, so I did what I needed to do in order to be ready to go and get out there under the neon lights and whirring cameras," said McIntyre.

To play the gimmick, McIntyre had to lose 40 pounds. Despite not being a fan of the idea, the former WWE Champion started his journey of losing weight until he became "sickeningly ripped, like a human (nonblue) avatar with a sleek ponytail."

While McIntyre prepared himself for his new character, Vince McMahon summoned him to his office to discuss the idea.

"I kept a straight face throughout, but inwardly I was thinking, This is the worst idea of all time. A successful wrestling persona is said to be your essential character amplified by ten, but there wasn't an iota of Drew Galloway in the proposed Runway Man. Mr. McMahon asked me for my view. 'Sir, if you like it, I can make it work,' I said. I don't know if he could see that my heart wasn't in it—my poker face was really unconvincing in those days—or whether he saw something else in me, but he made the instant decision to drop the 225-pound Runway Man and let me be more… myself," McIntyre added.

McIntyre has played a few different gimmicks since joining WWE in 2007, including The Chosen One, The Scottish Psychopath, and The Scottish Warrior. Over the past few years, he has become one of the top superstars on the current roster, winning the WWE Championship twice.

The 37-year-old is currently active on SmackDown. He will team up with Kevin Owens and The Brawling Brutes to take on The Bloodline this Saturday at Survivor Series: War Games.

Drew McIntyre recently hinted at forming "an army" to take on The Bloodline. Check out his comments here.

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Mansoor and Mace are now playing similar gimmicks on WWE SmackDown

Earlier this year, Mansoor, as mån.sôör, and Mace, as ma.çé, joined LA Knight (fka Max Dupri)'s Maximum Male Models stable. While Knight later left the group, Mansoor and Mace still play the characters of runway male models on SmackDown under the management of Maxxine Dupri.

Mansoor and Mace now seemingly portray a similar gimmick to the one the company previously wanted Drew McIntyre to play over a decade ago. While The Scottish Warrior was not a fan of the persona back then, wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell believes Mace and Mansoor should also drop it.

During an episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, the veteran said:

"This is what happens in wrestling. Sometimes if you have a gimmick that fails, well just push it to the side and then come up with another idea. The fans don't give a c**p. If it didn't get over, everybody's thinking give us something we can kinda enjoy. They can come up with something else that those Maximum Male Models can do and it may be entertaining. But as it was, it was not entertaining and I didn't even know the purpose of it and nobody did either."

Drew McIntyre recently stated that he no longer respects the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Check out his comments here.