Andrew McLean "Drew" Galloway IV (June 6, 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in his second run, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. He is also known for his time in Impact Wrestling formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a one-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time Impact Grand Champion under his real name. He has also worked extensively with many independent wrestling promotions, including Insane Championship Wrestling, Evolve, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW).
While with WWE, he has held the WWE Championship twice, Intercontinental and WWE Tag Team Championship once each, as well as winning the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship and FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on two occasions for their (pre-NXT) developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In NXT, he is a one-time NXT Champion. Outside of WWE, he has held numerous other titles both on the independent circuit and internationally. He has held the ICW World Heavyweight Championship twice, WCPW World Championship, the Evolve Championship, Open the Freedom Gate Championship and the Evolve Tag Team Championship with Johnny Gargano.
Professional wrestling career
Galloway began training for professional wrestling at the age of 15 at the Frontier Wrestling Alliance's Academy when his family moved to the south of England to Portsmouth. In the FWA Academy he was trained by the promotion's operator Mark Sloan along with Justin Richards and James Tighe. Galloway also cites the promotion's established stars helping out with training, including Doug Williams, Paul Burchill and Alex Shane.
British Championship Wrestling (2003–2007)
In 2003, Galloway made his debut for the inaugural show of British Championship Wrestling (BCW), operating in the Greater Glasgow area. While there he honed his wrestling skill further, training under Colin McKay and later Spinner McKenzie and developing the character of "Thee" Drew Galloway, a cocky narcissist. His first match, at February's No Blood, No Sympathy: Night 1, saw him lose against Stu Natt. He picked up his first win on the second night in a tag team match alongside Wolfgang, defeating Blade and Stu Pendous. By December, Galloway was being managed by Charles Boddington who aided him in his first significant success and would go on to manage him for the next four years. On 5 December, Boddington announced that BCW Heavyweight Champion Spinner McKenzie had been fired and thus would be stripped of the title; Boddington then instantly gave the belt to Galloway. Stevie Knight took exception to this and challenged him to a match that very night at Bad Tidings: Night 1, winning the championship. Galloway earned a non-title win over Knight the following February in 2004, at Night of The Fan but Knight exacted revenge by knocking Galloway out of the King of BCW tournament.
Later that year, Galloway had a series of matches against American veterans. In June, he was defeated by The Honky Tonk Man and later that month lost in a tag team match to Marty Jannetty and Highlander, with Sabotage on his side. In November, at the aptly titled Lo Down, Galloway main evented in a double count-out match against D'Lo Brown. He then had a brief series of feuds; in March 2005 he defeated Jay Phoenix but their rematch in November, officiated by Mick Foley, ended in a no contest. In May 2006 after their lengthy feud in Irish Whip Wrestling, Galloway lost then won in successive matches against long term rival Sheamus O'Shaunessy.
In November 2006, in the main event of Live in East Kilbride, Galloway teamed with Lionheart and pinned BCW Heavyweight Champion Highlander who was tagging with Wolfgang. This earned put him in contention for the title at December's No Blood, No Sympathy IV. The match was booked as an "I Quit" match with Conscience as the special guest referee with Galloway gaining his second BCW Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to hold the title through most of 2007, vacating it after he relocated to the United States in September.
Irish Whip Wrestling (2005–2006)
After gaining momentum in Scotland, Galloway began wrestling dates across the Republic of Ireland with Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW) continuing to use "Thee" Drew Galloway as his gimmick. With Charles Boddington still in his corner, he competed in three contests during his first appearance on 23 July 2005 for Whiplash TV. After losing to "SOS" Sheamus O'Shaunessy he found a similar fate against Mad Man Manson, sparking a feud between the two. Despite these two losses, his status abroad meant he was already booked in a Ten-Man Gauntlet match to determine the top contender for the main title. Galloway was whitewashed the entire evening, losing to Vic Viper. The following day at Gym Wars Manson was absent so Galloway tried to avenge his loss with O'Shaunessy but it ended in a double count-out. Over the next few months Galloway recruited various wrestlers, even his manager Boddington, in a series of tag team and even handicap tag team matches against Manson and his teams. He picked up his first victory in October against Sean South in a warm-up for that event's main event six-man tag team match. The rivalry between Galloway and Manson was finally settled in November at IWW's final show from the SFX Theatre. Their brutal and bloody Street Fight saw Galloway gain respect from for his tenacity and endurance but his losing streak continued.
With his rivalry against Manson settled in their Street Fight and despite having only won one match with the company, Galloway was given a shot at the IWW International Heavyweight Championship owing to his show stealing performances with Manson. On 28 January 2006 he received his first title match against Sheamus O'Shaunessy, evolving their rivalry from previous battles. The rivalry quickly took on a patriotic flavor, with Galloway's blue colours of Scotland clashing O'Shaunessy's green colours of Ireland, mirroring the Old Firm football derby between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, respectively. This football allusion became particularly prominent when the two met again at Verona Football Club once again for the title, though the match changed into a Lumberjack match, the result and champion remained the same. Galloway remained focused, proving his dominance and determination for the championship by defeating JC Williams and Brian Roche in a handicap match on 17 March. This match earned him a two out of three falls match against the champion the following day in which O'Shaunessy won two falls to one; the next day produced the same result. Again Galloway proved himself a fierce competitor, twice making Vic Viper acquiesce in "I Quit" matches in April. With their rivalry intensifying, Galloway's next challenge to O'Shaunessy was given the stipulation of a Last Man Standing Match. Once again, the Irish native retained the title, as he would also do in June with the same stipulation.
Finally, on 28 August 2006 Galloway managed to beat the reigning Irishman and won the IWW International Heavyweight Championship in a singles match. He successfully defended the belt that evening against Go Shiozaki. In November, Galloway took the championship to London, England to defend it at Real Quality Wrestling's Rebirth in November against Jody Fleisch, though the match would be broadcast on the 20 December episode of RQW TV. However, Galloway was not able to commit to fully defending the title, due to other bookings in his homeland and his academic studies, he was thus forced to relinquish the championship in January 2007.
Touring Great Britain (2005–2007)
While BCW became his home promotion and he made regular appearances for IwW, Galloway made several appearances around the independent circuit. In 2004, he appeared for the fledgling International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK) at their aptly titled Show 2. Despite losing to Aviv Maayan in his first showing, by the time he returned in May 2005 his reputation made him notorious enough to compete in their main event Five Way Elimination match to determine the best of British heavyweights. Galloway was eliminated first by Andy Boy Simmonz with a small package pin.
In between studying, Gallow competed in several tours of All Star Wrestling against competitors including TJ Wilson, PN Neuz, Chad Collyer and Brody Steele during 2006. On 15 October 2006 Galloway competed in Insane Championship Wrestling's (ICW) debut show Fear & Loathing, defeating Darkside and Allan Grogan in a Three Way 30 Minute Iron Man match to become the first ICW Champion. He lost the ICW Championship on 22 July to Darkside in a Five-Man Elimination match also involving Jack Jester, Wolfgang and Liam Thomson.
Despite it being his only appearance for NWA: Scottish Wrestling Alliance (NWA:SWA), Galloway represented Team SWA against Team Sinner in the titular match for the March 2006 Clan Wars event, being eliminated first by Highlander who was using the ropes. At the end of the month he appeared at the inaugural event for Premier British Wrestling (PBW) earning a shot to become the first PBW Heavyweight Champion by defeating Allan Grogan but losing to Wolfgang in the main event. In October he was entered into a contendership match to win another chance at the title, but was beaten by Dave Moralez.
Galloway's reception continued to precede him, being placed in contention for RQW's Not Just For Christmas tournament to crown the inaugural RQW Heavyweight Champion. Representing IwW, having made his IwW Title defense against Fleisch earlier in the year, Galloway faced SAS Wrestling's El Ligero going through to the semi-final only to lose to One Pro Wrestling's Pac by count out. Galloway continued to appear in April, taking his rivalry with 'SOS' Sheamus O'Shaunessy to London with a double count-out which led to a rematch in June where Galloway picked up the victory in a Street Fight. Later on that evening, having made a statement with his win over O'Shaunessy, Galloway attacked the RQW Heavyweight Champion Martin Stone during his title defense against Takeshi Rikio. This attack led to what would be Galloway's final match in the UK at August's Summer Brawl. Despite attacking Stone earlier in the evening, Galloway could not pick up the victory and failed to win the title. Galloway's very last appearance was serving as a referee for PBW on 15 September in a match that saw Darkside defeat Lionheart to become the championship contender.
World Wrestling Entertainment
In late 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) went on tour in Europe and before their filming of SmackDown in Manchester, Galloway had a try out match against O'Shaunessy. The following year in April the two received another try out matches in London. Later in 2007, on 12 October, Galloway made his televised WWE debut during SmackDown using the name Drew McIntyre. He appeared as a fan friendly character, imploring the crowd to cheer for him due to seeking dual citizenship with America while accompanied by fellow Briton Dave Taylor. He defeated Brett Major in his first week and the following episode defeated his tag team partner Brian Major with the help of Taylor. McIntyre was moved to the Raw brand in the new year, but after a win against Charlie Haas on 4 January he disappeared from television.
The Empire (2007–2008)
After moving to Kentucky, Galloway made his debut in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) on 26 September with a win over fellow FWA Academy alumnus Paul Burchill. He soon changed his name to Drew McIntyre and teamed with Burchill to take on The Major Brothers (Brian and Brett) in a losing effort. In October, McIntyre found a new partner in Stu Sanders forming a tag team called The Brit Pack. Still they failed to defeat The Major Brothers, both in a tag team match and a Four Corners tag team match elimination match. The Brit Pack picked up their first victory on the 31 October TV tapings over Dirty Money and Scott Cardinal. The win propelled McIntyre to gain an OVW Television Championship match against Colt Cabana. In 2008, Mcintyre gained momentum with a winning streak that built towards a non-title match against OVW Heavyweight Champion Evan Bourne which McIntyre won by disqualification, after interference. His final match in OVW was on 29 February with a win over Scott Cardinal.
After moving to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), Galloway reformed The Brit Pack with Stu Sanders, now going under the name of The Empire. In April they took on The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eric Pérez and Eddie Colón) who won the match and a shot at the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. Once The Nightmares won the titles, The Empire received two consecutive chances to win the belts and became Tag Team Champions on 6 May. Their first title defense was against McIntyre's old rival Sheamus O'Shaunessy but his partner 'Sterling' Jack Gabriel' accidentally hit them and The Empire capitalized to retain their titles. The Empire would be less fortunate on 17 July when they lost the championship to Joe Hennig and Gabe Tuft. On 16 August, The Empire imploded when McIntyre faced Sanders in a singles match which ended in a double count-out and their rematch at the end of September ended in a time limit draw.
Florida Heavyweight Champion (2008–2009)
On 7 October, McIntyre was entered into a contest for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship and defeated Tuft to make it into the final but lost to Eric Escobar (the former Eric Peréz). McIntyre closed out the year with an unsuccessful attempt to gain the Heavyweight Championship in a Four Way match but Escobar won the title from O'Shaunessy.
Going into 2009, McIntyre entered into a rivalry with Joe Hennig but their first match in February ended in a double count-out. McIntyre interfered in Hennig's match the following week, costing him the match. On 26 February Hennig defeated McIntyre and went on that night to win the Florida Heavyweight Championship from Escobar. Their feud ended abruptly when Hennig vacated the title after an injury causing McIntyre to be elevated into title contendership, beating Escobar for the vacant championship on 19 March. McIntyre would regularly defend the title until 11 June when Tyler Reks (the former Gabe Tuft) won the belt in his second attempt. Later that month McIntyre failed to win a 14 Man Battle Royal for a chance to regain his gold. On 25 June McIntyre was set to team with O'Shaunessy against the returning Hennig and DJ Gabriel (the aforementioned Jack Gabriel) but when neither team would work together a Four Way was booked with O'Shaunessy being victorious. McIntyre and O'Shaunessy both failed to win back the Florida Heavyweight Championship in mid-July from Reks, with McIntyre receiving a singles opportunity the next day with the same result.
The Chosen One (2009–2011)
On 28 August 2009, McIntyre returned to the SmackDown brand, disregarding his previous time on WWE television, and established himself as a heel by attacking R-Truth as he entered the ring, using his new Double underhook DDT finishing move, the Scot Drop which would quickly change its name to the Future Shock. McIntyre would continue to attack Truth over the following weeks, claiming to be on the show to wrestle not to party like Truth. On 18 September, while Charlie Haas was waiting to face R-Truth McIntyre came to the ring explaining Truth had been injured backstage, and then attacked Haas. On 25 September, WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon, in character, introduced McIntyre as a "future World Champion" that he had personally signed after which Truth made a return attack against McIntyre. The following week McIntyre continued to crash parties by making a speech at the Decade of SmackDown celebration until Truth put him through a table and the anniversary cake. This all led to McIntyre's first proper match since his return at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view (PPV). At the event, McIntyre defeated Truth in under five minutes again using his DDT finisher.
McIntyre faced Truth once more in a singles match and won by count out to represent SmackDown at WWE Bragging Rights but the episode before the PPV the entire team, captains aside, was replaced leaving McIntyre omitted from the event. McIntyre briefly feuded with Finlay in the same manner as Truth with matches not starting properly until McIntyre won their final meeting in under two minutes. At Survivor Series, McIntyre had a place on The Miz's team for the traditional Survivor Series Elimination match. McIntyre, The Miz and his former rival Sheamus (previously Sheamus O'Shaunessy) were the surviving members on their winning team; McIntyre eliminated Evan Bourne and Matt Hardy. Being the only SmackDown superstar to survive against Team Morrison, McIntyre faced and defeated Morrison a few weeks later, putting him in line for Morrison's WWE Intercontinental Championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Days before the event, Morrison mocked McIntyre's Scottish heritage by dressing as a Braveheart-inspired William Wallace, but at TLC, McIntyre managed to pin Morrison after a thumb to the eye to win the Intercontinental Title, his first championship in WWE. He retained the title against Morrison and later against Kane using underhanded tactics. His televised undefeated record came ended in a Money in the Bank qualifying match against Kane on the 26 February episode of SmackDown, but Mr McMahon forced General Manager Teddy Long to expunge the loss. The same thing happened again with Matt Hardy before McIntyre finally qualified for the Ladder match by pinning an unsigned wrestler. His winning record was decisively ended by The Undertaker on 19 March and he also failed to win the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania XXVI, his first WrestleMania appearance.
In weeks after this, McIntyre continuously attacked Matt Hardy until he was stripped of his title on 7 May by Long and suspended for the purposes of the storyline; McMahon decreed he be reinstated as champion the following week. As a result, McIntyre faced Kofi Kingston, (who had won a tournament to determine the new Intercontinental Champion after McIntyre had been stripped of it) at Over the Limit, and lost the Championship. After losing to Matt Hardy on the 25 June edition of SmackDown, Theodore Long informed McIntyre that his work visa had expired and that he would be deported back to Scotland immediately. This storyline had a basis in reality, since Galloway's visa had indeed expired and as a result he was taken off television. He returned two weeks later and was re–instated after apologizing to Long and qualified for the eponymous match at the Money in the Bank pay–per–view by defeating Kofi Kingston. After he failed to win, he continued his rivalry with Hardy and his friend Christian. At the same time "Dashing" Cody Rhodes also took umbrage with Hardy and Christian leading to an alliance being formed. On 19 September at Night of Champions, McIntyre and Rhodes captured the WWE Tag Team Championship in a five-team Tag Team Turmoil match as the last entrants by defeating Evan Bourne and Mark Henry. This allowed them to appear on both brands. At the Bragging Rights pay-per-view on 24 October, McIntyre and Rhodes lost the championship to The Nexus (John Cena and David Otunga). On the following episode of SmackDown, Rhodes and McIntyre argued following a loss, dissolving their team.
Brand switches and 3MB (2011–2014)
On April 26, Drew McIntyre was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. After several months of making very few TV appearances and mainly competing on WWE Superstars, Teddy Long re-signed Drew to Smackdown. After months of losing to the likes of Brodus Clay, Santino Marella and Justin Gabriel, Teddy Long fired Drew from Smackdown. A week later, McIntyre was reinstated by guest general manager John Laurinaitis, where he finally ended his losing streak by defeating Hornswoggle. He was subsequently included on Laurinaitis' team in the 12-man Tag Team match at WrestleMania XXVIII, helping to earn Laurinaitis control of both the Raw and SmackDown brands. During the match, Drew McIntyre injured his shoulder. He returned on 10 May edition of Superstars defeating Ezekiel Jackson. Since returning his fortunes had relatively stayed the same. He continued to lose most matches and was confined to Superstars and house shows, however he was able to make several appearances on Raw and Smackdown, but most of them were squash matches against the likes of Brodus Clay. When WWE rebranded its developmental territory, FCW, into NXT Wrestling, McIntyre was inserted into the Gold Rush Tournament to crown the inaugural NXT Champion, where lost to Seth Rollins in the quarter-finals on the August 1 episode of NXT. McIntyre also participated in a number one contender fatal four-way elimination match on the November 7 episode of NXT, but was eliminated by Bo Dallas.
On the September 21 episode of SmackDown, McIntyre and Jinder Mahal interfered in a match between Heath Slater and Brodus Clay by attacking Clay, aligning themselves with Slater. The trio became known as the Three Man Band, later shortened to 3MB. Due to suffering a wrist injury, McIntyre would manage Slater and Mahal in tag matches. McIntyre returned to the ring from injury on the December 7 episode of SmackDown when 3MB defeated the team of The Usos and Brodus Clay. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, after being guests on MizTV and harassing the Spanish announce team, 3MB challenged The Miz and Alberto Del Rio to find a partner for a six-man tag team match for later that night. Miz would announce their partner to be the Brooklyn Brawler, and would go on to defeat 3MB. The next night on Raw, 3MB were defeated by The Miz and Del Rio again, this time with Tommy Dreamer as their partner. On the December 31 episode of Raw, McIntyre and Slater challenged Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. McIntyre and Slater also competed in the first round of the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champions, but were defeated by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey on the January 23 episode of NXT.
On the April 12 episode of SmackDown, in an attempt to make a name for themselves, 3MB tried to attack Triple H, but were attacked themselves by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns). On the April 15 episode of Raw, 3MB called out The Shield, only for Brock Lesnar to come out instead and attack the group. On the April 29 episode of Raw, 3MB attacked The Shield, but The Shield would quickly turn the tables on them. This resulted in Team Hell No chasing away The Shield, before attacking 3MB themselves. Beginning in the fall of 2013, 3MB would use various new ring names against their opponents, although their misfortunes and mounting losses remained the same.
He was released from the WWE on June 12, 2014.
Independent circuit (2014–2017)
On 8 August, Galloway debuted for Evolve, defeating Chris Hero for the Evolve Championship. The next day, Galloway defeated Anthony Nese to retain the title. His first loss in Evolve came at Evolve 33, in a Champion vs Champion match against the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate champion Ricochet. Galloway continued to defend the Evolve championship stateside against the likes of Caleb Konley, Stevie Richards, Devin Thomas, Jimmy Rave and Victor Sterling at Independent events across the US and Rich Swann on Evolve iPPV at Evolve 34 - while also defending the championship internationally in Scotland against Kid Fite, Johnny Moss, Big Damo and Andy Wild, as well as in England, where he retained by pinfall over reigning NWA World Tag Team Champion Davey Boy Smith Jr. At House of Hardcore VII, Galloway made his debut with the promotion, where he was defeated by Austin Aries. Following multiple international championship defenses, Galloway's Evolve Championship was renamed Evolve World Championship on 9 January 2015.
Galloway made his first successful defense as World Champion the following night at Evolve 37, defeating Ricochet by pinfall.
On January 23, 2015, Galloway competed in a one night tournament for the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) World Championship He defeated Tommaso Ciampa to advance to finals where he faced Brian Cage, Chris Hero and Uhaa Nation in an elimination four way for the vacant title. Galloway would eliminate Hero by pinfall but fail to win the title as he was the last man eliminated following a distraction from Stu Stone, allowing Cage to get the win.
Insane Championship Wrestling (2014-2017)
Galloway made his first post-WWE appearance on 27 July in Insane Championship Wrestling. On 2 November at ICW's "Fear & Loathing VII" event at The Barrowlands, Galloway defeated Jack Jester in the main event to become a two time ICW Heavyweight Champion. Galloway made his first defense on 7 December, defeating Kid Fite in the main event of ICW's "Brush Your Goose" in Glasgow. Galloway made his first international ICW title defense in Denmark on 20 December 2014 in a double championship triple threat match against Danish Pro Wrestling Champion Michael Fynne and Chaos, where he retained the ICW title and gained the DPW Heavyweight Championship. Galloway competed in his final match of 2014, in a surprise appearance at ICW's "Space Baws 5: Bill Murray Strikes Back" by answering the challenge of Lewis Girvan, who had been goading Galloway for a match - Galloway defeated Girvan to retain the ICW Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, he announced his intentions to make the ICW Heavyweight title a World Championship by continuing to defend it internationally. On January 25, 2015 at the "Square Go" event, Galloway defeated rival Chris Renfrew to retain the ICW championship.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
The Rising and various feuds (2015–2016)
On 29 January 2015, Galloway made a surprise debut under his real name for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during the tapings of Impact Wrestling as a face in Glasgow, Scotland, coming to the aid of TNA British Boot Camp season 2 competitor Grado and entering a feud with The Beat Down Clan. The following night, Galloway competed in his first official match for TNA, answering the Beat Down Clan's challenge, he defeated Kenny King. On 31 January, Galloway defeated MVP by disqualification, after the Beat Down Clan interfered in the match. On 27 March Impact Wrestling episode, he formed the stable "The Rising" with Eli Drake and Micah. On 10 April episode of Impact Wrestling, The Rising defeated The BDC by disqualification when a masked man (Homicide) ran out and attacked Galloway. On 24 April episode of Impact Wrestling, after a match between Micah and Kenny King ended, Galloway and the members of The Rising came to help only to be beaten down. Afterwards Galloway challenged Low Ki to a Steel Pipe on a Pole match at Hardcore Justice, which Galloway won. At Slammiversary, Galloway competed at the King of the Mountain match for the vacant TNA King of the Mountain Championship in a losing effort. On 1 July episode of Impact Wrestling, The Beat Down Clan defeated The Rising in a 4-on-3 Handicap match, forcing The Rising to dissolve.
On 15 July episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway won a Twenty man battle royal to earn the right to face Ethan Carter III for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship later that night, but he lost the match after his former The Rising teammate, Eli Drake attacked him. At No Surrender, Galloway was defeated by Drake. A rematch he scheduled at Turning Point in a No Disqualification match, which Galloway won. On 16 September episode of Impact Wrestling, Team TNA (Galloway, Lashley, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards and Bram) defeated Team GFW (Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, Chris Mordetzky, Brian Myers and Sonjay Dutt) in a Lethal Lockdown Match to oust GFW from TNA when Galloway pinned Myers after a Future Shock DDT onto a trash can. On 23 September episode of Impact Wrestling, after winning a five-way elimination match against Bram, Lashley, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards; Galloway became the number one contender for Ethan Carter III's TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At Bound for Glory, Galloway competed in a three-way match for the world title, which was won by Matt Hardy. During October and November, Galloway participated in the TNA World Title Series for the vacant title, which he qualified to the round of 16 by defeating Bram, Rockstar Spud and Grado. However, he failed to advance the round of 8 where was defeated in the main event by Lashley, thus being eliminated from the TNA World Title Series.
Galloway then entered a short-lived storyline with Kurt Angle, at TNA One Night Only: Live, Galloway and Angle competed in a 3-Way TNA World Tag Team Championship match which was won by The Wolves. On 12 January 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway faced Angle in a losing effort. Galloway would then go on to earn a future TNA World Heavyweight Championship match by grabbing the briefcase that contained said title shot in the 2016 Feast or Fired match. Angle and Galloway faced off in a rematch in Manchester, England on 9 February episode of Impact Wrestling, where Galloway was victorious, defeating Angle by submission. After the match he bowed before Angle, showing respect due to it being part of Angle's farewell tour. On the March 1st episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway was defeated by Mike Bennett. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway and Gail Kim were defeated by Mike Bennett and Maria.
Championship reigns and departure (2016–2017)
On 15 March episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase and defeated Matt Hardy to capture the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career, thus becoming the first-ever Scottish-born TNA World Heavyweight Champion. This also would make him the first man to successfully cash-in a Feast or Fired briefcase for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Galloway announced his plan to be "the first traveling World Champion since Ric Flair" and touted upcoming independent defenses across Europe and the United States. He made his first defense of the title on 29 March episode of Impact Wrestling, defeating Jeff Hardy to retain the title. On 5 April episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway defeated Matt Hardy in a rematch for TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At Sacrifice, Galloway would overcome rib injuries inflicted from having been repeatedly speared by Lashley to retain his title over the Bound for Gold winner Tyrus. On 17 May episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway won a lumberjack match against Lashley, who was at the time the #1 contender, by disqualification after he was dragged from the ring and assaulted by the heel lumberjacks, thusly retaining his championship. Galloway would lose the title to Lashley at Slammiversary, ending his reign at 89 days.
Galloway was twice unsuccessful in regaining his championship from Lashley due to the involvement of Ethan Carter III. Galloway and Carter came to blows in an unsanctioned fight at Destination X on 12 July which ended in a no contest. Galloway was one of the eight men to enter the Bound for Glory Playoff tournament to challenge for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory. On 22 July episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway defeated Bram in the first round of the tournament but was eliminated from the semi-finals by Mike Bennett following interference from Moose and a third inadvertent collision with EC3.
On 25 August episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway faced Ethan Carter III in a losing effort for a world title shot against Lashley at Bound for Glory. After the match, he attacked the special guest referee Aron Rex, turning heel in the process. Galloway and Rex would later feud with each other, with both men joined the qualifying tournament for the inaugural Impact Grand Championship. After defeating Braxton Sutter in the quarterfinals and Eddie Edwards (via split decision) in the semifinals, he was scheduled to face Rex in the finals at Bound for Glory to crown the first Grand Champion, but due to an injury he was replaced by Edwards. On the 8 December episode of Impact Wrestling, Galloway made his return by interrupting the Impact Grand Champion Moose and criticizing the company. On 19 January 2017, Galloway made his in-ring return to TNA, defeating Moose to win the Impact Grand Championship. Galloway would retain the title three times, defeating Moose in a rematch at Genesis, Mahabali Shera on the 9 February episode of Impact Wrestling, and Rob Ryzin before losing the championship back to Moose via split decision in a second rematch on the March 2 episode of Impact Wrestling.
On 26 February 2017 Galloway confirmed that he had parted ways with Impact Wrestling.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2015–2016)
Galloway debuted for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in August 2015, competing in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He was eliminated by eventual finalist "Speedball" Mike Bailey on Night 2 before teaming with Chuck Taylor, Aero Star, Drew Gulak and Trent in a winning ten man tag effort the following night, against Timothy Thatcher, Andrew Everett, Drago, Mark Andrews and Tommaso Ciampa.
Galloway returned to PWG on 2 Jan 2016 for "Lemmy", where he scored his first PWG singles victory over former PWG World Tag Team Champion Jack Evans. Galloway was granted a title shot at "Bowie" on 12 February 2016, challenging former rival Roderick Strong for the PWG World Championship, but was unsuccessful. Following the match, Galloway was attacked by both Strong and Adam Cole until Zack Sabre Jr. made the save. Galloway would return to PWG in March to face Trent and Trevor Lee at "All Star Weekend 12", despite controlling most of the offense in these matches, Galloway lost both contests.
Galloway returned to winning ways in PWG at "Prince" on 20 May 2016, issuing an open challenge and defeating Michael Elgin.
Return to WWE (2018-present)
NXT (2017–2018)
On April 1, 2017, Galloway, under his Drew McIntyre name, was shown on-screen sitting in the front row at NXT TakeOver: Orlando. It was later confirmed in an exclusive interview with ESPN that he had re-signed with WWE and will perform in its developmental territory NXT. McIntyre made his debut as a face and shortly after challenged Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship in August and later defeated Roode at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, the latter of which would be called up soon after. McIntyre later lost the championship to Andrade Almas at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. Following this, McIntyre suffered an injury and would be out of action for several months.
Raw and The Show (2018)
On the April 16th, 2018 episode of Raw, McIntyre made his return to the main roster, and also from his injury, where he helped Dolph Ziggler attack Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews), re-establishing himself as a heel in the process. The next week, he and Ziggler defeated Titus Worldwide in his first match on Raw since his return. Over the course of the following months, McIntyre helped Ziggler retain his Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins several times on RAW and in an Iron Man match at Extreme Rules 2018.
On the September 3rd, 2018 episode of Raw Drew and Dolph Ziggler won the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship defeating the The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel). Drew and Dolph would go on to name their tag team The Show. They had successful defenses against The B-Team, The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson), and finally Rollins and Ambrose at Hell in a Cell 2018. During this time, they developed a partnership with Braun Strowman and feuded with The Shield (Rollins, Ambrose, and Roman Reigns.
They eventually lost the Raw Tag Team Championship on October 22 to Rollins and Ambrose. In December, McIntyre ended the partnership and attacked Ziggler and eventually defeated him in a steel cage match on Raw to end the feud.
In early 2019, McIntyre failed to find success after being eliminated by a returning Ziggler in the 2019 Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble and later after losing alongside Lashley and Baron Corbin against The Shield at Fastlane 2019. He also later lost once again against Reigns in a singles match at WrestleMania 35.
After a minor hiatus due to a minor injury concern, McIntyre returned and was announced as a member of Ric Flair's team at Crown Jewel. At the event, McIntyre's team lost the match. At Survivor Series 2019, McIntyre competed on Team RAW once again and was able to eliminate WALTER within the first three minutes. He was eventually eliminated by Reigns. Team Raw would go on to lose the match.
Singles Competition and Main Event Status (2019-present)
Within the next two months, McIntyre began a slow face turn as he began to prepare for the upcoming 2020 Royal Rumble Match which he announced his entry for during early January. He cemented this turn by embracing the crowd and began to show signs of not stepping down against any competition.
On January 26, 2020 at the Royal Rumble event Drew won the Men's Royal Rumble match eliminating five men along the way to earn a championship match against the champion of his choosing at WrestleMania 36. He chose then WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
Over the course of the following months leading up to the event, McIntyre embarked on a winning streak by defeating the likes of Gallows and Anderson (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson), Mojo Rawley, Erick Rowan, and MVP along the way while also engaging in interviews, and verbal and physical altercations with Lesnar and verbal wars with Lesnar's manager, Paul Heyman.
At the event, McIntyre defeated Lesnar in the main event of the second night of WrestleMania 36 to become the WWE Champion for the first time in his career and the first British-born champion in its history. He also became the thirty-first Triple Crown Champion as a result.
Right after his title win, he immediately defended and retained against Big Show in a dark match which would later be aired as the main event of the RAW after WrestleMania. The week following this, McIntyre defeated WWE United States Champion Andrade in a singles match and was attacked soon after his win by Seth Rollins setting up his first official feud as champion. Drew would go on to successfully defend the WWE Championship against Rollins at Money in the Bank 2020.
He would then enter in a feud with Bobby Lashley as he and MVP would slowly form The Hurt Business. Drew would defeat Lashley at Backlash 2020 after an untimely distraction from his on-screen wife, Lana. The next night on the June 15th, 2020 episode of Raw, he would defend against Lashley again, but in a tag team match as Bobby and MVP were going up against McIntyre and R-Truth. Originally, the 24-7 Championship was supposed to be defended as well in a Winners-Take-All tag team match, but R-Truth changed it so that the WWE Championship would be the only championship being defended. Drew and Truth ended up winning the match anyways.
Dolph Ziggler would be Drew's next challenger to feud with as within the coming weeks, he would try to play mind-games with the champion, ranging from giving him the "Scottish Psychopath" nickname to even bringing back Drew's former 3MB partner, Heath Slater, who was released 3 months prior. Ziggler would also confirm that the WWE Title match will take place with Ziggler choosing the stipulation at Extreme Rules 2020, in which McIntyre agreed to. At the PPV, Ziggler would confirm that the stipulation would be an Extreme Rules match for Ziggler only while McIntyre had to avoid being counted out or disqualified in order to retain the title. Drew would win the match after hitting a Claymore Kick out of nowhere. The next night on the July 20th, 2020 episode of Raw, he would beat Ziggler again as per his stipulation that it be an Extreme Rules match for both competitors.
After Randy Orton announced that he was going for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, he would attack Drew on multiple occasions and by the time the PPV rolled around, Drew would defeat Orton by a surprise roll-up. At Hell in a Cell 2020 the two would clash once more inside in Hell in a Cell match, but this time, McIntyre would lose to Randy Orton via an RKO. This would only fuel McIntyre's anger and on the November 16th, 2020 episode of raw, he would win back the WWE Championship in a singles match which became a No DQ match thanks to Adam Pearce. At Survivor Series 2020, he would lose to Roman Reigns in a Champion vs. Champion match.
At TLC 2020, he would defend the championship against A.J. Styles (and The Miz as he was able to "cash-in" during the match). He would later defend against Keith Lee on Raw Legends Night before being confronted and challenged by Goldberg for a title match at Royal Rumble 2021. Drew would go on to beat Goldberg at the Royal Rumble and would defend the title once more at Elimination Chamber 2021 in an Elimination Chamber match against Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles and Sheamus, all of which were former WWE Champions. Once the match was over, McIntyre would be attacked by Bobby Lashley, which allowed the Miz to cash in and win the title for himself.
Personal life
Having grown up in Prestwick, Ayrshire, Galloway studied at Prestwick Academy and completed a criminology degree at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is a supporter of Scottish football team Rangers and considered being a professional football player when he was younger. He played for many seasons at Prestwick Boys club, normally in defense before concentrating his sporting activities on wrestling.
At age 11, he was inspired by detective shows like The X-Files. He even requested and received alien files from the FBI.
In July 2009, Galloway proposed to Taryn Terrell, and reports of their intention to wed surfaced in January 2010 in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The couple married in Las Vegas in May 2010. On 24 May 2011, Terrell announced that she and Galloway were divorcing.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Claymore Kick
- Ego Trip (Scoop lift spun out into a facebuster) – 2003–2007
- Future Shock DDT
- G-Spot (Spike piledriver) – 2003–2007
- Iron Maiden (Chickenwing over-the-shoulder crossface) – 2016–2017
- Scot Drop (Reverse STO) – 2007–2009
- Thee Move / Cradle kneeling reverse piledriver – 2003–2007; used as a signature move thereafter
- Signature moves
- Big Boot
- Celtic Cross
- Glasgow Kiss
- Fireman's carry gutbuster
- Inverted double leg slam
- Lifting sitout spinebuster
- Multiple Suplex variations
- Bridging northern lights
- Overhead belly to belly
- Snap
- Super
- German
- Neckbreaker onto the knee
- Shoulder block
- Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
- Managers
- Charles Boddington
- Dave Taylor
- Wrestlers managed
- Tag teams and stables
- Boddington Inc. (w/ Sabotage)
- The Empire (w/ Stu Sanders)
- The Dashing Ones (w/ Cody Rhodes)
- 3MB (w/ Heath Slater & Jinder Mahal)
- The Rising (w/ Tevita Fifita & Eli Drake)
- Black Label
- Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler
- Nicknames
- "The Captain"
- "The Celtic Colossus"
- "The Chosen One"
- "The Great American Nightmare"
- "The New Phenom"
- "Thee"
- "The Sinister Scotsman"
- "The Voice of the People"
- "The Scottish Psychopath"
- "The Scottish Terminator"
- "The Scottish Warrior"
- Entrance themes
- "The One and Only" by Chesney Hawkes (Independent circuit; 2002–2007)
- "Regality" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2007; used while teaming with Dave Taylor)
- "Gaelic Highlands" by Jim Johnston WWE; 2007–2008)
- "Seeing Red" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2009–2010)
- "Broken Dreams" by Shaman's Harvest (WWE; w/ Intro cut 2010–2012, BCW; 2015)
- "One Man Band" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 21 September 2012 – 17 October 2012; used while a part of 3MB)
- "More Than One Man" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 25 October 2012 – 12 June 2014; used while a part of 3MB)
- "Wish It Away" by Psyko Dalek (Independent circuit, TNA; July 2014–March 2017)
- "Gallantry" by CFO$ (WWE NXT; April 12, 2017 – January 3, 2018)
- "Gallantry (Defining Moment Remix)" by CFO$ (WWE NXT)
Championships and accomplishments
- British Championship Wrestling
- BCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Evolve
- Evolve Championship (1 time)
- Evolve Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Johnny Gargano (1), Dustin (1)
- Evolve Tag Team Championship Tournament (2016) – with Johnny Gargano
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Stu Sanders
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
- TNA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- TNA Grand Championship (1 time)
- Global Impact Tournament (2015) - Team International (The Great Sanada, Bram, The Great Muta, Tigre Uno, Magnus, Rockstar Spud, Khoya, Sonjay Dutt and Angelina Love)
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Championship (2 times)
- World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
- WWE/Raw Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Cody Rhodes (1) and Dolph Ziggler (1)
- Money In the Bank (2024)
- Thirty-first Triple Crown Champion
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #219 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008
- PWI ranked him #26 in the 2023 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers
- PWI ranked him #13 in the 2024 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers
