Introducing...Drew McIntyre

In the past few months World Wrestling Entertainment has been in a renaissance of sorts in regards to producing new, young quality villains. Men like The Miz, Jack Swagger, Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus have all made their mark as forces to be reckoned with on WWE television. Drew McIntyre is just the latest to join this new breed of bad guys.

The young man born Drew Galloway started training to wrestle professionally when he was only 15 years old. In 2002 he began wrestling in his native Scotland at only 16 years of age. He found success almost right away, winning the British Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship his native homeland in 2003. He also moved over to Ireland and feuded with his fellow WWE rising star Sheamus O’Shaunessy in the country’s Irish Whip Wrestling. He became IwW’s youngest reigning heavyweight champion after defeating Sheamus at only age 21.

He also worked in south European organizations as All Star Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling and Real Quality Wrestling before signing his first WWE developmental deal in May 2007 and heading stateside.

His first stop was naturally in Ohio Valley Wrestling where he became acclimated to the WWE style of wrestling. By October 2007 he debuted on the SmackDown brand as the protégé of English veteran David Taylor. He ran through The Major Brothers in a small feud before being hastily transferred to the RAW brand in early 2008. He only made a couple televised appearances in that regard before being taken off to gain more seasoning.

He was sent to Florida Championship Wrestling to get more experience. While there he teamed with fellow United Kingdom transplant Stu Sanders in a unit called “The Empire” to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championships. After the team’s break-up, McIntyre defeated Eric Escobar to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship well.

On August 28 of this year, McIntyre re-debuted on the SmackDown brand by attacking R-Truth right out of the gate. He attacked Truth numerous times after his debut, which led to a one-on-one match between the two at Hell in a Cell, which McIntyre won handily. On the September 25 edition of SmackDown he received the seal of approval from Mr. McMahon, as the WWE Chairman announced he had personally signed McIntyre to a long-term deal for SmackDown and anointed him a "future World Heavyweight Champion."

After defeating R-Truth once again he was scheduled to be part of the seven man Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights. However the week before the pay per view, McIntyre and the majority of his team lost to Truth and his team in a 4-on-5 match. As a result Truth’s team took their spots at the pay per view.

McIntyre rebounded and entered in a feud with veteran Irishman Finlay. He beat Finlay twice on television and then found themselves on opposing sides in an elimination tag match at Survivor Series. In that encounter, McIntyre, team captain The Miz and his old rival now ally Sheamus all survived. Later on in the show the three men were interviewed and declared they the future of WWE.

The young man from Scotland is riding a big wave of momentum that he hopes to carry into future success in the company. In a time when WWE is on a constant search to create new main event-level superstars, McIntyre is in a prime position to take the leap up the ladder.

Billed Height – 6’5
Billed Weight – 18 stone (250 lbs.)
Billed From – Ayr, Scotland
Nicknames – The Chosen One
Signature Moves – Future Shock (Butterfly DDT)
Major Titles Held – FCW Florida Championship, FCW Florida Tag Team Championship
Debuted – 2001

For more info:
Drew McIntyre’s official WWE bio
Drew McIntyre’s Wikipedia entry
Drew McIntyre on Online World of Wrestling