In one of several shocking incidents to emerge from Saturday’s events WrestleMania weekend (both of which are connected to the WWN Supershow), one of the indie world’s top stars of the past few years, Drew Galloway, has signed with the WWE and will be heading to NXT.
Fancy seeing YOU here, #DrewMcIntyre! #NXTTakeOver @WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/maClXmz8cN
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 2, 2017
Drew Galloway was shown seated front row prior to the main event at NXT Takeover: Orlando, the NXT Championship match between Bobby Roode and challenger Shinsuke Nakamura. And much like NXT Champion Roode was discussed last year at NXT Takeover: Dallas, it hinted that he was there for more than sightseeing. And in an eyebrow raising moment, the announcers referred to him as Drew McIntyre, the moniker Galloway wrestled under during his previous nearly eight year tenure with the WWE (2006 to 2014).
The even bigger shock was that Galloway was originally advertised to be part of the main event for that evening’s WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising that was running congruent with NXT’s Takeover event, in a 6-man match-up to crown the inaugural WWN World Champion, against Matt Riddle, “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams, Fred Yehi, Parrow and Jon Davies. At the beginning of the event, Galloway was attacked and “injured” by Keith Lee and he was announced as being unable to compete. His spot in the main event was filled by another former EVOLVE Champion, Timothy Thatcher. This move seemingly solidified that Galloway was being written off of EVOLVE broadcasts.
https://twitter.com/FloSlam/status/848330510879399937
Moments after the conclusion of the NXT Takeover: Orlando main event, Galloway – or should we now say McIntyre – was interviewed by ESPN, where he confirmed he was indeed heading to NXT.
“Well, the answer’s pretty simple. I’ve won championships all across the world. I’ve helped build brands. So what’s the next logical thing for me to do? It’s to come here and win the NXT title…If that’s not clear enough for everybody, Drew McIntyre has signed with NXT.”
