Major WWE Star Almost Signed With NJPW In 2017

A top WWE star nearly never made it back to the company.

Despite being heralded as the “Chosen One” by Vince McMahon, the first part of Drew McIntyre’s WWE career didn’t go to plan.

After being given that moniker by McMahon, McIntyre quickly won the Intercontinental Championship, and it seemed that a World Title win was just a matter of time. However, he ultimately found himself locked in the mid-card before sliding down the pecking order.

Things came to an unfortunate end in June 2014 when the Scottish star was released.

In desperate need of a reset, McIntyre headed out onto the independent circuit while totally reinventing himself, both in and out of the ring. This run eventually took the star back to WWE in April 2017, and before the summer was over, he was NXT Champion.

Since then, McIntyre has become a fixture of the main event scene on the main roster, winning the Royal Rumble, Money In The Bank, and three World Championships.

Veteran Played Key Role In Bringing Drew McIntyre Back To WWE

During an interview with the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, McIntyre looked back on his WWE return and admitted that it almost never happened. He explained that before a conversation with William Regal, he was ready to head to Japan in early 2017.

“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.”

Back in 2025, Drew McIntyre is set to face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Saturday Night’s Main Event on November 1. According to a recent report, the match was scheduled for Survivor Series, but was moved forward after Jacob Fatu was pulled from television.