10 WWE Releases That Actually HELPED A Wrestler

6. Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre 3MB WWE Title
WWE

If your WWE fandom goes back more than a decade, you probably have vivid memories of a very different Drew McIntyre than more recent fans possess.

The McIntyre whom WWE released in 2014 was a complete jobber; a clean shaven member of faux rock group 3MB. Yes, that trio of air guitar-strumming, leather-clad goobers who lost to everyone. His release wasn’t much of a surprise, as the former Intercontinental Champion and “Chosen One” had fallen off incredibly.

Banished to the independent scene, Drew Galloway remade a name for himself with stops in ICW, TNA, Evolve, PWG and WhatCulture Pro Wrestling. By the time 2017 rolled around, Drew was a hot commodity again and returned to WWE via NXT, where he became the brand’s top champion. A year later, McIntyre jumped to the main roster.

It would take some time for Drew to really find his footing as a top guy, but McIntyre would eliminate Brock Lesnar from the 2020 Royal Rumble before winning the match, then dethroned 'The Beast' for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36 – sadly, in front of an empty Performance Center.

McIntyre has been a prominent or featured wrestler during the past 6 years, becoming a 4-time world champion in WWE. That’s a far, far cry from the tall, lanky guy in 3MB, and none of that would have likely happened had he not been released.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.