5 rare photos of Drew McIntyre, showing the 2020 Royal Rumble winner as you may never have seen him

Drew McIntyre punched his ticket to WrestleMania by winning the Royal Rumble match on what was the biggest night of his career.

The 34-year-old put in an incredible performance in Huston, Texas, to win the bout for the very first time.

The opening stages of the match had been dominated by Brock Lesnar, who relentlessly and aggressively saw off the challenge of no less than 13 Superstars - tying Braun Strowman's record for Rumble eliminations.

McIntyre entered the fray, however, and things quickly changed. With the aid of a swift kick to Lesnar's nether regions from Ricochet, the Scot nailed the Beast with an awesome-looking Claymore Kick to the head, sending him toppling over the top rope and onto the floor.

The two traded stares for minutes afterward, seemingly confirming their clash at WrestleMania, and that was then very much confirmed the following night on RAW when they clashed once again.

So with McIntyre heading for the ultimate showdown on the biggest wrestling stage, it's fair to say the giant from Ayr is riding the crest of a wave.

He has come from relatively humble beginnings, though, having left WWE years ago before honing his craft on the independent scene and returning with devastating impact, first through NXT and then on the 'main' roster.

You may be shocked, then, to compare the present version of McIntyre to the one that previously wrestled in WWE between 2007 and 2014.

Quite apart from the images of a dominant & towering McIntyre that so many have become familiar with in recent months, here are 5 slightly rarer photos you may never have seen.

---

#5 An unpleasant Truth

Drew McIntyre was not impressed with R Truth

Many WWE Superstars now know about Drew McIntyre's power and strength, but one man who discovered the damage it can do earlier was R-Truth.

Way back in 2009, Truth found himself on the receiving (and painful) end of some brutal attacks by McIntyre, who unleashed his trademark DDT that he'd later go on to term the Future Shock.

Seemingly taking exception to Truth's apparent wish to "party" rather than wrestle, the youngster left the former Tag Team Champion laying in a heap on more than one occasion.

#4 The Chosen One

'The Chosen One' Drew McIntyre with Vince McMahon

Easily one of the most recognizable and memorable moments from Drew McIntyre's first WWE run came when in September 2009, as Vince McMahon proclaimed him to be the company's brightest future star, anointing him as The Chosen One, and claiming he'd go on to be a future World Champion. Eleven years later, we have finally seen how prophetic those words were.

While at the time such a proclamation may have weighed heavy on the mind and shoulders of the young man and caused a bar to be set so high that he'd never be able to reach it, you can't argue that it provided the master of the Glasgow Kiss with the ideal platform on which to launch what has become an incredible career.

---

#3 The first taste of gold

The new Intercontinental Champion, Drew McIntyre, after defeating John Morrison

In December 2009, Drew McIntyre capped an unbelievable run and calendar year by winning his first championship - the Intercontinental Title.

The victory came at the expense of John Morrison at the TLC pay-per-view in San Antonio, Texas, and was as a result of what would become some typically 'heelish' tactics from the new champ, who needed a thumb to the eye to help secure the victory. He needed similar chicanery to overcome Kane in a title defense the following February.

Kofi Kingston would be the man to eventually unseat the then 24-year-old, taking just six minutes to snatch his Championship with a victory at the Over The Limit pay-per-view.

#2 A maiden WrestleMania

Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania in 2010

Drew McIntyre may be set to headline this year's WrestleMania at what is probably the peak of his career to date, but there's no doubting that his first outing at WWE's biggest show of the year will always rank highly in terms of top career moments.

WrestleMania XXVI was held March 2020 in Arizona, before over 70,000 rabid fans. A young McIntyre, then still Intercontinental Champion, was part of the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was given a prime spot and some 13 minutes on the night's card.

However, The Scot's bid to claim the coveted briefcase failed, as Jack Swagger went on to defeat not only McIntyre, but also Dolph Ziggler, Shenton Benjamin, Christian, MVP, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, and Matt Hardy.

---

#1 Champions with Cody Rhodes

Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes celebrate winning tag-team gold

The year 2010 continued to be yet another landmark year for Drew McIntyre, and at Night of Champions in September, just a year after so dramatically announcing his arrival on the big stage of WWE, he again captured championship gold.

This time the gold in question was the WWE Tag Team championships, with McIntyre and his partner Cody Rhodes having aligned themselves, established common enemies in Matt Hardy and Christian.

The Clash of Champions win came in a hectic tag team turmoil affair, with the Hart Dynasty, The Usos, Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov, and Evan Bourne & Mark Henry all downed before Rhodes and McIntyre had their hands raised.

The reign would be somewhat short-lived, lasting around just a month before John Cena and David Otunga snared the gold.