In 2009, the WWE was in a flux. With the roster so thin, we had been accustomed to seeing the same matches over and over again. This led, WWE to push Superstars without the proper build that was necessary. One of those Superstars was Drew McIntyre (now Drew Galloway). Drew was someone who I felt was grossly misused in WWE and since his departure he has been killing it in the Indies. Being away from WWE for almost two years, we have seen a revitalized career. Now he is apart of TNA Wrestling (WWE’s rival) and quite possibly the best thing that they have had since 2008. The big difference in McIntyre is his mic work has improved drastically. In fact, many would argue that TNA’s two best people on the roster came from WWE.
Who is that other guy? Ethan Carter III (know as Derrick Bateman), who has enjoyed a career rebirth and currently stands as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
McIntyre began training from the age of 15 in England, before moving back to Scotland to begin his career. Before long he became a regular in British Championship Wrestling (BCW) using the gimmick “Thee” Drew Galloway, winning their Heavyweight Championship twice along with the Heavyweight Championship of Insane Championship Wrestling. He also found success abroad in Irish Whip Wrestling, winning their top title.
Going to WWE and having such major success in Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling, we saw a character development that McIntyre could run with. The best part about his character was that it seemed natural to him and was believable. Bringing this character to the main roster, many thought that this would transition well. McIntyre was a great cocky, arrogant, egotistical and snobbish heel that the fans grew to detest. His entrance music “Broken Dreams” by Shaman’s Harvest was awesome and fit his persona to perfection.
McIntyre actually debuted in WWE in late 2007, but after a few matches he was gone from television. This was the first indication that WWE didn’t know what to do with him. On August 28 2009, McIntyre returned to the SmackDown brand, disregarding his previous time on WWE television, and was established as a villain by attacking R-Truth as he entered the ring, using his new double underhook DDT finishing move, the Scot Drop (soon renamed the Future Shock). McIntyre continued to attack Truth over the following weeks, claiming to be on the show to wrestle not to party like Truth. What was so unique about this debut was that he had showed the ability to be brutal. Even though Sheamus debuted a similar role a couple months prior to McIntyre, there was something about Sheamus that made me think that he could not keep up the huge push he had been given (WWE Championship). For McIntyre, he reminded me a lot of a young Triple H.
A couple of weeks later on SmackDown, a surprise appearance by Vince McMahon caused many to wonder, why would he appear on the “B” show? The reason for this is because he had to inform the WWE universe of his recent signee, Drew McIntyre. McMahon started off the segment by telling us all the reasons why this guy is the real deal; eventually saying that he is “The Chosen One” and a future World Champion.
With the backing of the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and Triple H, things could only go up from that point on. As many Superstars as WWE has had, not many people were given such a high praise in their first few weeks of being on the roster.
McIntyre was as shocked as anyone as he said, “I couldn’t process it, I didn’t know it was going to happen, I got told Vince was going to go out before me when I was in the gorilla position to do a promo and I watched from behind the curtain thinking what the heck is going on. Something like that had never happened before and is never going to happen again. When people look back in history and see him endorse me it was just unbelievable.”
A couple months on the roster, we saw him defeating everyone that the roster had to offer. Having an undefeated streak for months he was given the opportunity to really be the breakout star that WWE had wanted him to be. At Survivor Series it was Team Miz against Team Morrison and he ended up leading Team Miz to victory (eliminating Evan Bourne and Matt Hardy). With his impressive showing, he was awarded an Intercontinental title match against John Morrison a month latter at TLC. He did not disappoint as he walked out the champ and it looked like things weren’t going to slow down for him. Oh, was I wrong! Week in and week out, his promos began to be the same bland boring concept. The crowd was not behind this guy anymore.
As fast as his rise, his downfall seemed to be faster. Eventually he was defeated for his title and left in random matches and a brief a random tag title run with Cody Rhodes. From 2012-2014, he was in one of the worst stables of all time the “Three Man Band.”
Yes, he was officially a jobber and those years he was at the bottom of the WWE totem pole.
WWE didn’t drop the ball. They pushed him hard but the audience just didn’t care. Since then I think the WWE has learned to return back to doing developmental projects to foster them further instead of shooting them to the moon and hoping they land. Case in point, Roman Reigns. Since it is clear that Triple H will be taking over when McMahon decides to hang it up, a reasonable push for McIntyre and future Superstars will make more sense.
McIntyre is one of those guys who just seem to have it all at first glance. At 6’5″ and 254 lbs. he has excellent size. There are several WWE superstars who simply would not look right with a world title around their respective waists, but McIntyre is undoubtedly a guy you could imagine wearing the World Heavyweight Championship (at that time) or now WWE World Heavyweight Championship. McIntyre has an impressive presence in the ring but is not the type of wrestler who is going to pull out some sort of incredible maneuver that you have never seen before. The style that he possessed was his ability to use a lot of old school moves. Ramming his opponents into the ring posts and focusing his attack on certain body parts, has been a lost art since the 1980’s but for McIntyre he brought this unique style back.
How did he suffer such a complete collapse? Well… I am still looking for that answer. It has been rumored that his downfall began when WWE had suspended Tiffany (his Ex-Wife) because of an incident involving the two. WWE History has shown that couples do not work in the business. Just look at CM Punk and AJ Lee. If he wasn’t able to produce years ago, how could he produce now? The answer is, put him as a heel on the NXT roster.
If he had a brand like NXT when he was first coming up, the future could of been different for “The Chosen One”. NXT has been a great platform for people to find their niche whether it is, improving in the ring, promo abilities or character. Looking at the success that NXT has brought Superstars like Seth Rollins, Neville and Kevin Owens you would think this would be a great for him. Triple H has developed a brand that allows for more risks and is more organic, than forced. With Triple H being known as a big believer in McIntyre during his initial run with the company, it would only seem right to allow him to show us that he does have the ability to be a force in the WWE landscape. McIntyre has said that he and the WWE left on good terms, so maybe we could see him in the future.
With being only 30 years old and NXT showing that it is willing to sign anyone, would you like to see him?
If TNA folds or his contract expires, it wouldn’t shock me to see a refocused Drew Galloway return to WWE with a new look. Working the indies has given him the ability to get over huge in front of smaller audiences all over the world in a serious way. Great read.
McIntyre is one of those guys I wish I could just hit the reset button on. So talented, but just never clicked.
I still remember when he debuted two years before he became the Chosen One. Teaming with Dave Taylor for two weeks and Zack Ryder was still a joke
That was such a great gimmick. I was totally behind him 100% with those letters ‘from’ Vince where he was undefeated. Hopefully his career in WWE will have a resurgence one of these days because he is doing too well in EVOLVE, TNA, and Dragon Gate to not get noticed for his intensity. He has the size and he’s aging well…I hope WWE capitalizes on his marketability.