Drew McIntyre's journey from being the Chosen One to getting fired from WWE to becoming a 2-time WWE Champion is an inspiration to everyone who has been following his career over the years. The Scottish Warrior showed tremendous determination and reinvented himself after getting released from WWE and made sure the company opened its doors for him again.
He's been an active in-ring competitor for over 19 years, and worked with the best talent in the industry, and won several world championships across various promotions. He will look to add more gold to his collection when he challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle, but before that, let's take a look at his career journey through photos taken over the years.
10 Training & Debut
Drew McIntyre started training to become a pro wrestler when he was only 15 and entered the Frontier Wrestling Alliance's academy. He trained under Mark Sloan and Justin Richards and also got some help from the other established wrestlers of the promotion.
He made his in-ring debut at a Wild Promotions event in September 2002 and then started competing regularly for British Championship Wrestling after making his debut for them in February 2003. He competed for the two promotions extensively during his early days in the business before expanding his horizons to the other companies in the UK independent circuit.
9 Independent Circuit
Drew McIntyre continued to perform in the independent circuit and appeared in various promotions, including FutureShock Wrestling, Irish Whip Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, and many more.
During this time, McIntyre went on to become a 2-time BCW Heavyweight Champion, IWW International Heavyweight Champion, and the ICW Heavyweight Champion. Apart from his first reign with the BCW title, which ended in one day, McIntyre had lengthy runs in his following reigns with the said titles. He finished up with the UK independent circuit in August 2007 as he traveled to the United States to try out for WWE.
8 Signing With WWE
Drew McIntyre signed his first contract with WWE in late 2007, and after wrestling a couple of matches in OVW, he made his televised debut on the October 12, 2007, episode of SmackDown. But his main roster run got cut short as the company assigned him to train at its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.
He competed for FCW between March 2008 and August 2009, and during this time, McIntyre became a 2-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champion alongside Wade Barrett and also won the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.
7 The Chosen One & Intercontinental Champion
Following his stint in FCW, WWE reintroduced Drew McIntyre on the main roster, and he made his re-debut as a heel on the August 28, 2009, episode of SmackDown by attacking R-Truth. After a few weeks of displaying his heel antics, Vince McMahon introduced McIntyre as a future world champion, whom he had personally signed, leading to McIntyre's "Chosen One" gimmick.
He then went on to capture the Intercontinental Championship and started tormenting SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long by taking advantage of being Vince McMahon's chosen one. McIntyre continued his rivalry with Teddy Long after losing the Intercontinental Title, which culminated after his work visa expired in June 2010, which resulted in WWE using the same in storyline to take him out of action.
6 Various Storylines & 3MB
After working out his situation with his visa, McIntyre returned to WWE after two weeks and had to beg Teddy Long to reinstate him. Following that, McIntyre formed a tag team with Cody Rhodes, and the duo captured the WWE Tag Team Championship at the 2010 Night Of Champions PPV in a five-team tag team turmoil match.
They held the title for 35 days before dropping it to John Cena and David Otunga at Bragging Rights 2010. WWE continued to promote McIntyre in various storylines until September 2012, when they paired him up with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater to form the comedic 3MB faction. McIntyre lost all the momentum he had while being a part of the group and got relegated to the lower cards, making the fan question what did he do wrong to deserve this treatment from WWE.
5 WWE Release & Return To Indies
After nearly two years of being part of the 3MB faction, Drew McIntyre got released from his WWE contract in June 2014. But that came to be a blessing in disguise as he went on to reinvent himself in the independent circuit.
He made his debut for Evolve Wrestling and captured the promotion's world championship from Chris Hero in August 2014, and then won their Tag Team Championship alongside Johnny Gargano in January 2016. He also started working for various independent promotions like Dragon Gate USA, Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, Insane Championship Wrestling, House of Hardcore, and many more.
4 Impact Debut & World Champion
Drew McIntyre made his debut for Impact Wrestling in January 2015 and started a rivalry with MVP's faction, "The Beatdown Clan." He then started his pursuit for championship gold in the promotion, which gave fruit after a year when he defeated Matt Hardy to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
He held the title for 89 days before losing it to Lashley at the 2016 Slammiversary PPV. After a series of events, McIntyre entered the storyline to crown the inaugural Impact Grand Champion. After an injury took him out of the final of the tournament, McIntyre returned in December 2016, and confronted champion Moose. He won the title from Moose on the January 19, 2017, episode of Impact. But he could hold on to the title only for a short time as he dropped it back to Moose on the March 3, 2017, episode of Impact.
3 WWE Return & NXT Champion
Drew McIntyre parted ways with Impact Wrestling in February 2017 and returned to WWE at NXT TakeOver: Orlando in April, where he was shown sitting in the front row at the event. WWE then revealed that McIntyre had re-signed with the company and would perform for NXT.
McIntyre made his re-debut for NXT on April 12, and after competing in a series of matches, he became the No.1 contender for Bobby Roode's NXT Championship. He squared off with Roode for the title at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 3 and won the title for the first time in his career. He held the championship for 91 days before dropping it to Andrade at the 2017 NXT TakeOver: WarGames event.
2 Main Roster Return & Various Storylines
Drew McIntyre returned to the WWE main roster in April 2018 and aligned himself with Dolph Ziggler as a heel. He continued to appear alongside Ziggler and assisted the latter in his feud against Seth Rollins over the Intercontinental Championship.
McIntyre and Ziggler captured the Raw Tag Team Championship from The B Team on the September 2, 2018, episode of Raw. The duo then formed a partnership with Braun Strowman and feuded with the reunited Shield, and lost to them at the Super ShowDown PPV in October 2018. After losing the Raw Tag Team Titles, McIntyre turned on Ziggler, leading to a feud between the two. Following that, McIntyre continued to perform as a heel and had several notable matches, including one against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35. He then aligned himself with Shane McMahon and aided the latter in his feud against Roman Reigns.
1 WWE Champion & Current Storylines
Drew McIntyre started showing signs of a face turn in late 2019, which resulted in him winning the 2020 men's Royal Rumble match, and went on to defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. He held it for 214 days before losing it to Randy Orton at the 2020 Hell in a Cell PPV. However, he recaptured the title before the 2020 Survivor Series PPV but lost his champion vs. champion match against Roman Reigns at the event.
He lost the championship to The Miz after the latter cashed in his MITB contract on him at the 2021 Elimination Chamber PPV. Following the loss, McIntyre continued to get featured in various high-profile feuds and is now all set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship at the Clash at the Castle PPV.