Drew McIntyre on His WWE Return, Being Inducted Into ICW Hall of Fame

Former NXT Champion Drew McIntyre was interviewed by SportBible where he spoke about his return to WWE, his injury and his induction into the ICW Hall of Fame.

McIntyre first explained what it means to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for ICW (Insane Championship Wrestling) as the Glasgow-based company was where he truly started his career.

“It’s crazy, the idea I’m going into the ICW hall of fame, with everything that ICW had achieved is pretty incredible. For a start I’m 32 and going into a hall of fame, that’s pretty mental.

“But when you break it down and put it into perspective there wasn’t any Scottish wrestling scene when I started wrestling, aged 15, 17 years ago, Mark Dallas was the first guy I met in the whole of professional wrestling. He told me he wanted to be a promoter one day, I told him I wanted to be in the WWE one day. And that was the first guy I met and we had big dreams, there was nothing and we started the scene back then.

“He started ICW, I was the first champion, I left, the BBC documentary came around and it started taking off. There were 1500 people when I made my return, we all worked together and we all busted our arses and we built that number from 1500 to over 6000 for the biggest indie show of all time.

“All the things the guys are saying online about me, the roster, all the compliments, they all mean the world to me but it really was a team effort to be able to change so much and I really am so proud to be recognized and going into the ICW hall of fame.”

Continuing, McIntyre explains how ICW owner Mark Dallas played a role in his impact on the independent circuit after his initial WWE release back in 2014.

“Initially when I got released a bunch of people messaged me. It was July 2014, they were trying to get me booked on their show. The one person that didn’t message me was Mark Dallas. Finally, I contacted him and I said ‘oh so you’re not going to message me?’ and he said ‘well you’re my friend I thought you might be upset you lost your job’ and he was the only person who considered I might be upset.

“And I told him my plan, I said ‘I’ve got an idea, I’m going to return to ICW. I’m going to return in three weeks, I’m going to show up on the show as a surprise and I’ve got a statement I want to give out to the world.’

“So he was happy, we kept it a secret and nobody knew whatsoever, I managed to sneak in the back door and when I finally got to the basement of the building I was terrified, going through everything in my head. I was about to make some very bold predictions that ICW was going to be known worldwide and that I was going to show the world who I truly was. From the guy who used to be the chosen one and was in the 3MB group, these are bold statements but I believed them and they all came true.”

The 32-year-old explained how he made the right decision at the right time to come back to WWE.

“When I left I hadn’t been doing too much WWEwise but I had been offered the kind of training you really can’t buy anywhere. The kinds of people I’d worked with over the years, listened to over the years. I saw being released as an opportunity and thought ‘Right Drew here you go, you can either be miserable or really show the world what you can do. Take everything you’ve learnt and apply it.’

“So I applied everything I learnt and traveled across the world, became the busiest wrestler on the entire planet. I built my brand and during that time I grew up a lot, as a man, but I also learnt a lot as a professional- how to be a main event guy, how to conduct myself in every possible way and apply everything I’d learned in WWE. And by the time ICW got to the level it got to, everywhere I went to get to a level that it didn’t need me anymore to keep growing.

“Everyone was ready, all the roster was ready, the company was ready and it was time for me to return home. So it was perfect timing and the perfect opportunity. And then I became NXT champion so it really worked out.”

He explains what the fans mean to him.

“My fans have always believed in me and got behind me. I’ve always heard the messages in person and online, them saying ‘just give Drew a chance.’ And their chants led to me becoming champions so I just have to thank my fans so much.”

Finally, McIntyre teases a return to the ring soon, providing an update on the injury that took him out of action following his lost to Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas.

“I’m feeling good. I’ll say this much; the fans that are there on the night, there’s limited tickets still left. This is my first public appearance so when everybody sees me they can judge for themselves if they think I’m ready to be back in the ring because I’ve got my sights set on the world.”

If you’d like to see the talented McIntyre (as Drew Galloway) in action, we have provided a full ICW match from 2016 below, where Galloway takes on the ‘Iron Man’ Joe Coffey. We recommend watching as the match is incredible and the video quality is great too.

Full Match - Drew Galloway vs Joe Coffey - ICW World Championship - Barrowlands

Have you ever watched ICW before? Do you enjoy McIntyre’s work?

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