Drew McIntyre reflects on 10-year anniversary of WWE release
Drew McIntyre was released from WWE 10 years ago today.
On Wednesday, McIntyre reflected on the anniversary in a social media post, noting that his name didn’t even appear in the headline of WWE.com’s post about the roster cuts that day.
“Brodus Clay, Evan Bourne, Teddy Long, Curt Hawkins, and other WWE Superstars released,” McIntyre says in the video below. “That was 10 years ago today. I am one of the ‘other,’ not even in the picture here.”
“10 years ago, it was the best thing that happened to me because I ended up right back here in ICW, found myself as a performer, found myself as a man, grew business outside of WWE, and 10 years later, main eventing Clash at the Castle. Not bad for ‘other.'”
In addition to the names mentioned above, other releases from that day include JTG, Camacho (now known as Tonga Loa), Jinder Mahal, Aksana, Yoshi Tatsu, and referee Marc Harris.
McIntyre had been with WWE for almost seven years when he was released in 2014. He’d spend close to three years outside the promotion before returning.
McIntyre became a full-time main roster member in 2009 and was dubbed a future world champion by Vince McMahon. However, by the time of his release, he had been a member of 3MB for nearly two years and was far away from the world title picture.
McIntyre returned to ICW after being let go and performed for EVOLVE and TNA Wrestling as well. He’s a two-time ICW Champion and was inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame in 2018. He also won both the EVOLVE and TNA World titles.
McIntyre’s WWE return was announced at NXT TakeOver: Orlando in April 2017. In late April 2024, he signed a three-year deal to remain with the company.