Drew McIntyre Reveals He Almost Joined Rival Promotion Before Returning To WWE

Drew McIntyre has been an integral part of the WWE roster for eight years now, from his return run in NXT, through his various rivalries and title programs across Raw and SmackDown since landing back on the main roster in 2018.

But the gargantuan Glaswegian almost didn't return to the old New York territory.

McIntyre Almost Headed For Japan

In 2017, after a barnstorming run on the indies and TNA, McIntyre — going by his real name of Drew Galloway — was not in fact set for a second round with WWE but instead, an excursion to Japan, where he was set to sign with New Japan Pro Wrestling.

At the time, New Japan was on fire, ignited by the seminal in-ring rivalry between Kenny Omega and IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada, alongside the strength of The Bullet Club, a recently independent Cody Rhodes, and legendary homegrown talents such as Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiromu Takahashi.

For a talent on as much of a post-WWE heater as McIntyre was at the time, New Japan felt like a very logical option. But a last-minute phone call changed the former World Heavyweight Champion's mind.

William Regal's Last Minute Intervention Swayed McIntyre Back Towards WWE

In a recent interview with No-Contest Wrestling, McIntyre revealed that William Regal intervened to point the former WWE Champion in the direction of Triple H, who was then overseeing the rapidly evolving and increasingly popular NXT brand within WWE.

“In 2017, when I returned to WWE, I was ready to go to New Japan at that point. That’s where my head was at. I spoke to the right people to start having the serious conversations, and Regal told me, ‘you’ve got to talk to him, talk to Hunter first, go talk to Paul first,' and it was one minute into the conversation I knew it was time to come back.”
Drew McIntyre [H/T No-Contest Wrestling]

McIntyre's return to WWE in April 2017 saw him crowned as NXT Champion in August of that year, when he dethroned Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III. The Scottish Warrior would drop the title to Andrade at NXT WarGames three months later, before moving up to the main roster in 2018.

McIntyre Almost Became 'Runway Man' Back in 2009

Elsewhere in the interview with O'Shea Jackson and TJ Jefferson, the two-time WWE Champion revealed how John Laurinaitis had pitched for him to work under the gimmick of 'Runway Man', where McIntyre would have his own model runway that he would walk down before his matches.

Thankfully for the Scotsman, he was spared the indignity of such a rotten gimmick. However, his 'The Chosen One' presentation didn't exactly set the world on fire either, despite Vince McMahon's best effort to make a young McIntyre his next big thing.

McIntyre is currently set to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event in Salt Lake City this weekend. McIntyre was previously unsuccessful when challenging The American Nightmare at WrestlePalooza last month.

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