Drew McIntyre has revealed that he has hearing problems and he unknowingly taught himself to read lips because of it.
The former world champion recently had an interview with Gorilla Position to promote his upcoming match against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40. When asked how he’s feeling before the bout, McIntyre mentioned that the effects from the Elimination Chamber match last month have not worn off completely.
Talking about the perforated eardrum he suffered during the extreme bout, McIntyre disclosed that he has had hearing issues going far back. The Scottish Warrior revealed that he actually taught himself lip reading without even realizing, and explained how he finally found out about it:
“I found out about a year and a half ago from an ear specialist, because I have bad hearing in general,” said Drew McIntyre, “that I taught myself to lip read, which I had no idea.
We did a little test, where he was talking. He had me put my fingers in my ears where I could still hear him, [I] was telling him what he was seeing. He slowly slipped up a piece of paper in front of his face and I was like ‘I can’t hear what you’re saying. you’ve lowered your voice.’ My wife was like ‘He hasn’t, it’s the exact same volume.’
He went ‘Yeah, you’re a smart guy. You’ve just taught yourself to lip-read because you’re hearing so bad.’ [I went] ‘Oh, fantastic.’ Then I got perforated. So I wouldn’t say who it was because I don’t want them to feel bad, but it’s very annoying because I can’t hear jack.”
Despite the injury, Drew McIntyre not only completed the match but went on to win the Elimination Chamber. The victory has earned him an opportunity to challenge Seth Rollins for his World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia next month.
You can learn more about speech and hearing impairment at the official website of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association here
Drew’s full interview can be seen below:
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
