I’m a WWE star who beat Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania but my first dream was football – I quit after fighting the referee

A WWE star who beat Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania admits his first love was football.

But he quit after FIGHTING the referee.

Drew McIntyre, 37, is one of the biggest names in WWE these days.

The Scottish superstar is a two-time champion in the industry.

And he frequently delights fans with his array of grappling skills on Smackdown.

However, things could have turned out very differently for McIntyre had he decided to pursue a career in the beautiful game.

The Rangers fan admits he continued playing Sunday League matches as a teen while beginning his adventure in wrestling.

And at one stage he was dreaming of playing for the Gers at Ibrox.

But McIntyre ended up going down the WWE path after leaving football following a bust-up with a referee.

He told TalkSport: “My mind was pretty much set, I wanted to be in the WWE.

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“There was a period when I was like ‘wrestling in WWE is my ultimate dream but if I play for Rangers that’s cool too’.

“I was so convinced that it was going to work out. Growing up I was such an obsessive Rangers fan, I just played football non-stop.

“In my last-ever game, I got a yellow card which should have been a red, but then I got a red.

“My shoulder smashed into his face and knockout him out. I was a little upset so I took off my shirt and threw it at the referee and tried to fight him.

“And that was the day I decided that I would focus on wrestling a little bit more.

“I was just obsessing over wrestling even more, so football was taking a back seat to the point where I got sent off and had to appear before the board and I told them to just screw themselves.”