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

#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.

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#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.