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Drew McIntyre Reflects On Full Circle Moment As He Brings WWE Title To Scotland

By Lyle Kilbane • Published Jan 14, 2026 13:10 EST
Drew McIntyre Scotland Flag

Drew McIntyre has closed the loop in his career as he brings the WWE Championship home to Scotland.

On the January 9th edition of SmackDown, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes went to war one more time in a 3 Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship.

Drew McIntyre won the first fall in a normal singles match before Rhodes was able to tie things up in a falls count anywhere bout. The final fall was a steel cage match that McIntyre was able to escape from despite being confronted by his returning rival, Jacob Fatu. Fatu attacked McIntyre but was stopped by Cody Rhodes. Fatu then turned on Rhodes, which allowed McIntyre to slither out of the cage and capture the WWE Championship for the third time in his career.

With the win happening on a European tour, McIntyre was able to take the title immediately home to Scotland to celebrate.

Drew McIntyre Helped Create A Wrestling Scene In Scotland

Speaking to BBC Scotland, McIntyre was able to reflect on the full circle moment as he was once a hungry dreamer trying to create a wrestling scene at home:

It’s all I ever wanted to do. Ever since I was a kid and I saw WWE for the first time, I was captivated, and I had two goals: I was going to play for Rangers or I was going to wrestle for WWE. When I first started wrestling in Scotland, the Scottish wrestling scene was dead and we had to start our own scene basically, and we were very lucky to get a farmer and a dog in attendance.

I never lose that perspective of that young Drew, dreaming and pushing and everyone telling me ‘Come on mate, that’s an American thing you’re not gonna do that’, and achieving it. So every single day I feel so grateful to do what I’m doing because eventually it’s all going to be memories.

I’ve had a couple of history-making moments, like when I first won the WWE Title, I was the first ever Scot to win it – first person from Scotland or England. So I guess I am currently the best in the world. And what are the chances? What are the chances? I keep saying it over and over because I don’t believe it quite yet that the first match I’m going to have is back home in Scotland, where it all began.