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Drew McIntyre has had an interesting and exciting WWE career. While his first stint with the company was not as glorious as many had expected it to be, his second run with the company has been far more fruitful and has satisfied the WWE Universe.
Apart from WWE, McIntyre has performed in several other major wrestling promotions such as Impact Wrestling and EVOLVE. Working in different wrestling promotions around the world has helped McIntyre perfect his craft.
While his mic skills aren’t the best in the world, his wrestling abilities along with his overall image has helped him become one of the leading men in the business today, and he will likely carry this momentum till the end of his career.
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The Scottish Psychopath has done his country proud on several occasions, and it seems as if nothing can stop him from remaining one of the top ten wrestlers in the industry today.
Having said that, we will now look at the transformation of Drew McIntyre over the years with the help of some images that we’ve managed to dig up of The Scottish Psychopath from within and outside WWE.
#10 Drew McIntyre meets Yokozuna
Drew McIntyre got interested in the world of wrestling at a very young age. While he considered becoming a professional footballer at an early age, he started taking interest in professional wrestling soon after.
In the above photo, you can see McIntyre posing for a photo with WWE legend Yokozuna. The photo in question was possibly taken during one of the company’s meet and greet sessions.
This shows that McIntyre was passionate about wrestling from a very young age and followed WWF (now WWE) closely.
#9 Initial years in British Championship Wrestling and rivalry against Sheamus
In 2003, McIntyre made his debut for British Championship Wrestling (BCW), which originated in the Greater Glasgow area.
McIntyre had some interesting matches during his stint with the promotion and even went on to compete with The Honky Tonk Man and D’Lo Brown between 2004 and 2006. One of McIntyre’s most memorable early feuds came against The Celtic Warrior Sheamus who was a part of Irish Whip Wrestling at that time.
In the video above, you can watch what Sheamus said about McIntyre's journey through the wrestling industry and to the top of WWE.
#8 Drew McIntyre becomes the IWW Heavyweight Champion
After shining in a brilliant rivalry against Sheamus in Irish Whip Wrestling, McIntyre moved to the IWW promotion and brought along the gimmick of "Thee" Drew Galloway.
He had a really good run with the promotion and even rekindled his rivalry with Sheamus, this time over the Irish Whip Wrestling International Heavyweight Championship. The Celtic Warrior was the reigning Champion at that time and defeated Mcintyre for the title several times but eventually lost to the 2020 Royal Rumble winner in August 2006 in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland.
McIntyre enjoyed a 141-day reign as the Champion before he was forced to relinquish the title as he had to move to his hometown to fulfill some booking commitments and finish his studies.
#7 Insane Championship Wrestling gets a new Heavyweight Champion
Drew McIntyre returned to Scotland after his IWW International Heavyweight Championship run ended and got back to performing for the British Championship Wrestling (BCW). He soon joined Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and became the promotion’s inaugural ICW World Heavyweight Champion.
In the video above, Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda discusses McIntyre's contribution to ICW with former ICW Champion, Grado.
McIntyre defended the title for 280 days before finally dropping it to Darkside in a five-man match just in time to leave the promotion and move on to bigger opportunities.
#6 Drew McIntyre makes his WWE debut on SmackDown
In 2007, Drew McIntyre signed with WWE and made his debut on SmackDown! in October 2007. He was accompanied to the ring by his on-screen manager and mentor Dave Taylor, and competed in his first match against Zack Ryder (fka Brett Major).
He managed to defeat Ryder with a roll-up and established himself as a mid-card heel with the victory. The following week, he defeated Curt Hawkins (fka Brian Major) in a match, this time with the help of Taylor.
McIntyre was soon moved to the RAW brand and separated from Taylor.
#5 “The Chosen One”
Soon after making some initial impact, Drew McIntyre was moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He competed against many current top stars there and managed to polish his skills even more.
He became a one-time FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion and two-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with Wade Barrett (fka Stu Sanders).
In 2009, McIntyre returned to SmackDown and tried to re-establish himself as a major heel. Vince McMahon saw potential in the Superstar and dubbed him “The Chosen One”, confirming that he would go on to have as much success in WWE as he’d had in other promotions. Vince saw a future World Champion in McIntyre, and he wasn’t wrong.
#4 Drew McIntyre joins 3MB
In late 2009, Drew McIntyre went on to become the Intercontinental Champion and began his journey to the top of WWE. However, his path was full of obstacles and he ended up getting stuck in the mid-card division.
After a couple of years in 2012, McIntyre was put into the Gold Rush Tournament in NXT to crown the inaugural NXT Champion. Even though he was one of the favorites to win, he was defeated by Seth Rollins early in the tournament.
WWE then paired the Superstar up with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater to create a mid-card comic faction, something that did not suit the Scottish Psychopath.
#3 Released by WWE; Drew Galloway becomes the TNA Heavyweight Champion
After nearly two years of competing with 3MB in various rivalries, Drew McIntyre was released from his WWE contract in June 2014.
McIntyre once again started going by "Drew Galloway" and returned to ICW where he had a successful run and went on to become the promotion’s Heavyweight Champion once again.
That’s not all as McIntyre also featured in EVOLVE Wrestling where he went on to become the EVOLVE Champion, and then competed against Johnny Gargano in Dragon Gate USA for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship in a Title vs Title match where he retained his title and also won Gargano’s Championship to become a Double Champion.
In 2015, McIntyre signed with TNA (now Impact Wrestling), and a year later in March 2016, he cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase on Matt Hardy to become the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. This victory proved that Vince McMahon had rightfully seen the potential in The Chosen One, but WWE was unable to book him correctly to ensure that he achieved the tag of a main-event player.
#2 Return to WWE; Drew McIntyre becomes the NXT Champion
In 2017, Drew McIntyre once again decided to join WWE and was signed to the company’s NXT brand. This time around, McIntyre seemed much more polished and well-built and it seemed like pushing him would be much easier for the company during his second run.
In August of the same year, McIntyre did what he should have done years ago and went on to defeat Bobby Roode to become the first-ever Scottish NXT Champion.
McIntyre’s grittier attitude helped him defend the title for three months before he lost it to Andrade, after which he was sidelined due to injury. However, he had managed to make his mark and earn the backing and respect of the WWE Universe during his short stay in NXT.
#1 The Scottish Psychopath becomes the WWE Champion
In April 2018, Drew McIntyre returned from injury and aligned himself with a heelish Dolph Ziggler to take over the RAW brand. The two men had a decent time together before McIntyre went on a solo run.
While The Scottish Psychopath was seen as a major force on RAW and fans expected him to win the big one sooner rather than later, the creative team made him wait for as long as it could.
In 2020, McIntyre did the unthinkable and got the entire WWE Universe behind him by turning face for the first time since his return to the main roster. He even eliminated then-WWE Champion Brock Lesnar from the Royal Rumble match in January. He went on to win the Rumble, earning a shot at Lesnar’s WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.
At The Show of Shows, McIntyre fulfilled the prophecy and defeated Lesnar to become the first-ever British WWE Champion.
