8 WWE Stars Who Have Rescued Their Careers

3. Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre Kurt Angle
WWE.com

'Scottish Terminator' Drew McIntyre did work the independents for a while.

His release in the summer of 2014 came as a bit of a shock, both to him and WWE fans. Sure, the Scot was a mid card act at best, but he'd been dubbed the "Chosen One" by Vince McMahon several years earlier, and most still believed he had the potential to be big time. Before that, Drew had to go away and find himself.

Matches in ICW, Evolve, WCPW, PWG and on Impact showed WWE what they were missing. McIntyre, buoyed by a fiery determination to someday show what he was capable of, suddenly turned into one of the best all-rounders on the planet. By 2017, WWE came calling once more and drafted Drew in for a spot on NXT.

That was the perfect reintroduction for him. McIntyre thrived in a locker room packed with names he'd run into before on the indy scene, and it didn't take long for WWE to call him back up to the main roster. Today, Drew is considered a future World Champion, and is rightly given kudos for making that so.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.