10 WWE Matches That Changed Your Mind About Wrestlers You Hated

3. DREW MCINTYRE Vs. Oney Lorcan, NXT, April 12, 2017

Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Drew McIntyre, spotted in the crowd at TakeOver: Orlando, did not elicit the same blistering enthusiasm as Kota Ibushi had a year prior in Dallas. Perhaps that's because McIntyre failed to register much interest during his initial WWE run; lanky, slim and effete, McIntyre did little to differentiate himself from the hordes of his mechanically-identical Florida Championship Wrestling peers.

To many, McIntyre was a low-budget Hunter Hearst Helmsley - so, somewhat fittingly, he underwent a full Triple H circa-1999 body transformation on the British Independent scene, evolving into Drew Galloway: a bulky shredded beast in physique, and a believable, no-frills sh*t-kicker in ring-work. Making his Full Sail bow in a full-throttle bruiser of a match opposite Oney Lorcan, McIntyre showed many fans not what they were missing, but what they had not seen: the new McIntyre was strong enough to catch Lorcan mid-flight and vicious enough to pound him into the apron - a wince-inducing sequence seduced fans received with booming chants of "Drew! Drew! Drew!"

A wee cult classic, McIntyre Vs. Lorcan was a literal crash course in the secret history of Drew Galloway - a superb reintroduction to a character, framed as an intense exhibition of his deafening chops, killer headbutts, and reckless release suplexes.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!