Drew McIntyre Reveals He Almost Joined NJPW Before Re-Signing With WWE

From 2014 to 2017, Drew McIntyre was one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling outside of WWE. The Scottish Psychopath cemented himself as a main event talent and captured the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, EVOLVE Championship, ICW World Heavyweight Championship, and WCPW Championship over the three year period. 

McIntyre ultimately returned to WWE in April 2017 after being contacted by Triple H, and has since become The Star Of Monday Night Raw after he defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 36. 

McIntyre could have been headlining Wrestle Kingdom instead of WrestleMania, however, as the WWE Champion revealed in an interview with Justin Barrasso at Sports Illustrated that he nearly signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling before he returned to the wrestling behemoth. He even had two opponents in mind as he wanted to face Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. 

The Scottish Psychopath said: "Before Hunter called me to come back to WWE, the place I was going next was Japan. My style would be perfect there and I could learn so much. The two opponents on the top of my list were Tanahashi and Okada. Ospreay would be great, as well. I wrestled him outside of WWE in a couple of my favourite matches. But still, I have to go with Tanahashi and Okada."