WWE Star Explains What Led To Previous Release

Published: Apr 8, 2025 by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: Apr 8, 2025 by Dave Adamson

Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.

A top WWE star has revealed that their past behavior played a prominent role in their firing over a decade ago.

Drew McIntyre was signed to WWE in 2007 and would remain with the company until his first release in June 2014, returning to the independent scene before being re-signed in 2017.

During a recent appearance on the WAFFLIN’ Podcast, McIntyre looked back on the start of his WWE journey that saw him as “The Chosen One” before his firing.

Discussing “encouraging” backstage envy with his behavior, he would reveal that he became “an absolute nightmare” following the passing of his mother, saying:

“There’s a lot of people behind my back with envy, jealousy, ‘Why not me?’, backtalking me, stabbing me in the back, and creating that negative opinion of me which was not helping me.

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“I’d encouraged it I guess at times with my nights out and having a good old time, and my personal life.

“My mother got sick during that time, and then I really went off the deep end with burning the candle at both ends, and when she passed, I was just an absolute nightmare.”

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McIntyre would reflect on the need for him to no longer be in WWE during that period, stating:

“I definitely wouldn’t have trusted myself to be in a prominent role in a giant publicly traded company like WWE.

“And eventually it got to the point where it was clear from their side, but from both sides, that I had to go away.”

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If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

His return in 2017 would lead to McIntyre becoming the NXT Champion and the WWE Champion, with his WrestleMania 40 victory seeing him briefly hold teh World Heavyweight Championship.

In the interview, McIntyre also opened up about his working relationship with CM Punk, despite the pair disliking each other.

McIntyre recently revealed that he has had his eye checked following a backstage spot involving real glass on WWE SmackDown.

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