Drew McIntyre made a surprise return to Scottish indie ICW

With an opportunity to win the WWE World Heavyweight title in his home country at Clash at the Castle, Drew McIntyre has a big day ahead of him today (Sat., June 15). Even so, he stayed up late last night to pay a visit to a Scottish independent promotion he once represented as its World champion.

In fact, McIntyre was the first person to hold ICW’s top belt. Wrestling as Drew Galloway, he won it all the way back in 2006. He obviously dropped it before signing with WWE the first time in 2007, but he returned often after his 2014 release and prior to re-signing three years later.

The man who currently holds the ICW World Heavyweight championship is actually the last person McIntyre wrestled there — Jack Jester.

That’s why they teased tension when Drew arrived (complete with his WWE entrance music and graphics) at night one of ICW’s After Hours event. They didn’t sell it long before embracing, though. Then McIntyre, wearing an ICW shirt, cut a promo hyping a promotion that’s obviously played a huge role in his career.

He shared a video of his appearance on X/Twitter:

This was obviously a personal visit for McIntyre, but it’s also an example of WWE’s recent willingness to work with other wrestling companies (see also: the ongoing NXT/TNA crossover, IYO SKY’s upcoming Marigold match, and Monday’s announcement with Pro Wrestling NOAH).

Triple H may not like the term “Forbidden Door”, but he & WWE President Nick Khan definitely seem to understand the value of the cross-promotional collaboration it implies.