Drew McIntyre returned to the WWE last year after spending some time on the independent scene (and Impact Wrestling) to hone his skills in the ring and on the mic. The Scottish native spoke to Lilian Garcia on Chasing Glory about his desire to go through NXT first.
He stated that the popularity of NXT drew him in and he wanted to be a part of the passion surrounding WWE's developmental territory. McIntyre knew he would eventually be back in WWE as well. He saw NXT as an excellent way for a faster return to Raw or SmackDown.
"[NXT] was what I wanted. I told my wife in the beginning when NXT really started catching fire, 'You know what babe, ideal when I go back there first, if I do my thing here and I get a reputation in the independent scene, then I believe I can get an angle to NXT because it's such a passionate fan base. I think that would be the place for me to go to really show what I can do. And then when the time is right, because the transition is so much smoother from NXT to RAW and SmackDown because it moves so fast. RAW and Smackdown, there's so many hours of unique TV every single week all year round.'
"That was the way I saw it and that's what I told her in the beginning. I told Chris Jericho, he was the first podcast I did. [Jericho is] another one who really helped me in the beginning and really get my message out there was Chris and I told him, 'I will be back.'"