My mum will always my hero - Drew McIntyre says ahead of Royal Rumble

As a pro wrestler, Drew McIntyre is one of WWE's biggest and brashest villains.

But away from the ring the Ayrshire grappler has a hero close to his heart - his late mum Angela.

Watching his mother get on with life despite suffering from the rare brain condition cerebellar ataxia inspired him to keep going with his own, seemingly unlikely dream of becoming a wrestling star.

"I guess her example is what pushed me to do the unattainable," says Drew, who has held the WWE's world and heavyweight championships three times.

Growing up in Prestwick, at a time when the main Scottish connection to WWE came in the kilt-wearing but actually Canadian shape of 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, making a living grappling Stateside seemed unlikely.

"Everybody thought I was insane, but I was adamant that I would be the first person signed from Scotland to WWE," he told BBC Scotland News, ahead of stepping into the ring at this weekend's Royal Rumble - one of the company's flagship events, with a crowd of more than 60,000 expected.

"My parents at least believed in me enough that the agreement was they'd support this crazy dream enough as long as I stuck in at school, which I did."

Drew spent four years at Glasgow's Caledonian University earning a degree in criminology while cutting his teeth in Scottish promotions such as Insane Championship Wrestling.

However, away from the bumps, blood and brawls, it was mum Angela - who died from cancer in 2012 aged 51 - who provided Drew with motivation.

"She was my biggest fan," he says.

"She was living a normal life, working in Littlewoods and suddenly she couldn't walk properly (through cerebellar ataxia).

"She was told perhaps she'd never live a normal life. She fought through, she met my dad and had my brother and I.

"When she became sick the cancer didn't slow her down. Just observing her growing up, and everything she went through all the way to the end of her life, keeping her chin up and keeping a positive attitude, had an effect on me.

"If I've got a superhero for a mum this wrestling dream's easy."

BBC