I've been so lucky with people giving me an opportunity to showcase the real Drew.

I will never say anything negative about WWE.

From a boy who left university as a student straight to WWE - those experiences, those ups and downs in life and work shaped the wrestler and man I am today.

There are superstars that deserve to be at the top and do give everything.

'WWE' Raw is the No. 1 sports-entertainment show in the world. If it starts to suffer, the rest of the sports-entertainment world starts to suffer.

The Shield has been up at the top for so long now, they're just living in their own little world. They're not working for the boys; they're working for each other.

The Shield is fantastic. They're everything they say they are.

You want to earn that opportunity to be part of WrestleMania, the biggest show of the year.

On the road to WrestleMania, this is where everyone's giving 110 percent.

When you are against a guy like a Bobby Lashley, you have to be smart because he can snap a leg in one second. I treat him with that respect.

I sent away to America for 'The Inside Secrets of Wrestling' that Percy Pringle and Dennis Brent wrote, and Volume 1 told me to keep kayfabe of the book. So I used to keep it in a briefcase, and I'd go to school every day, and everyone would talk about wrestling, and they didn't know what was going on, but I knew what was going on.

When you're by yourself and not with WWE, you are your own business. And I was very successful in that business because of all the lessons I learned.

I truly learned how to be a top brand myself and be what I needed to be.

In WWE, a lot of people took my passion as me thinking I was better or knew more.

I am very passionate about this business, and I always have been.

I'm not a 'Yes Man,' and I've always preferred to go back and forth and find something we both agree on so I can do it to the best of my ability. That was taken in WWE as trying to do what was best for me. In reality, I was trying to be different.

I may look like the stereotypical, prototypical wrestler, but I've always wanted this my whole life.

I know this business better than most people, and I'm extremely passionate about it.

That's all I ever wanted - to go out as myself and have the success or failure fall on me.

In OVW, it was like a different world, pretty much. They had the talent ready to stay around for a while, with guys who weren't over yet and guys who weren't retiring yet. With FCW, WWE were a bit more hands-on with the writers.

I was in FCW for about six months. It was roundabout 2009; a lot of guys started to retire, and they didn't have guys coming in from other companies to replace them.

William Regal is one of my mentors, and I had been talking with him the whole time I have been away from WWE.

NXT is the top roster in the world as far as I'm concerned, the work ethic and fans.

Keeping a secret in the social media age often is impossible.

I've been lucky that I've got myself through various opportunities and platforms and people believing in me - my wife helping in a lot of different areas - and growing up a lot, I've shown I am ready now to be a top guy, to hold that position for the company and show what it is to represent a giant, publicly traded company like WWE.

There is so much more than just what you do in the ring and what you do on the microphone.

I've experienced the highest of highs and been in every single position, and that has taught me so much.

I started wrestling at 15 and signed with world's biggest company by 21 and then had to rebuild myself again.

Most people jump for joy when WWE come calling, and rightly so.

The WWE and World Heavyweight Titles are the ones everyone is aiming for, and if you're not aiming for them, you are in the wrong business - and I like to think that when the time is right, I will get my shot.

I have always been a big rock fan and remember dressing up as Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose for my high school Halloween disco when I was 17. My teacher painted tattoos on, and I wore a small leather waistcoat and not much else.

I love tag team wrestling.

RVD is the most chilled man on planet Earth - if he was any more relaxed, he'd be asleep - and he is a really nice guy, too.

I see it as my responsibility to start trying to help wrestling because if I don't do something, wrestling is going to die - like, wrestling as we know it.

Everything I do has a purpose for my goal, which is to create a buzz.

I want to be surrounded by the best possible wrestlers, and Evolve, from top to bottom, there is no filler on that roster.

I used to be around John Cena all the time in WWE, and I watched him and the way he worked. John is a guy who has been at the top longer than anyone else in history, and I'm lucky to have the opportunity to train at Cena's gym and go to him for advice.

The response Cena elicits from the crowd is unreal. And critically, AJ Styles has been considered one of, if not, the best in the world. Together, it's magic.

AJ Styles is the best in the world.

Anything can happen in pro wrestling.

I was part of Evolve as they were beginning to make their name, and I was lucky enough to help it grow worldwide as WWE got involved.

When Vince McMahon said I was going to be a future world champion, he didn't say when.

I achieved more than anyone or myself could ever have dreamed.

I'm still the biggest wrestling fan there is; I'm the biggest mark in the land. I just took it further and started doing it!

If I agree with something, then I do, and if I don't, then I don't. It's as simple as that.

Johnny Gargano is someone I've known for years - we've been EVOLVE Tag Team Champions together; we've wrestled each other many times over the years.

I used to travel for 12 hours to learn to wrestle when I was 15.

I was a boy that grew up in front of the world on television. Now I'm a man.

I've been very fortunate - not many people have left WWE and then had the chance to reinvent themselves.

He was one of my childhood idols, and I hope I can get in the ring with him one day. I'd love to batter The Rock.