10 Wrestlers You Didn't Know Drew McIntyre Faced

At WrestleMania 36, the first WrestleMania to broadcast over two nights and to happen with no crowd, Drew McIntyre is scheduled to take on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Since winning the 2020 Royal Rumble back in January, McIntyre has been on an absolute tear through the WWE roster.

However, as Drew Galloway, McIntyre was on a tear through the indies for years before returning to WWE, defeating future WWE stars and indy darlings alike. While many of those matches may have been forgotten in the annals of pro wrestling, here are ten wrestlers that you didn't know he faced.

10 Will Ospreay

This is a special matchup, as Will Ospreay is one of the few wrestlers that will likely never join WWE, which means that this will likely never have the opportunity to happen again. Therefore, we are lucky that McIntyre took on the Best of the Super Juniors winner not once, but twice.

In RevPro, Ospreay and McIntyre squared off once, with Ospreay emerging victorious. Later, at WCPW Exit Wounds, Drew McIntyre successfully defended his WCPW Championship against Will Ospreay, with that matchup winning the Defiant Wrestling Award for Match of the Year in 2017.

9 Johnny Gargano

During the brief amount of time that both Johnny Gargano and Drew McIntyre were in NXT, both men were faces. Not only that, but McIntyre was on the fast track to return to the main roster, so he never had the opportunity to cross paths with Gargano.

At WrestleMania weekend in 2015, Johnny Gargano held the Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate Championship and Drew McIntyre was, at the time, holding the Evolve Championship. McIntyre defeated Gargano in a title vs. title match, retaining his Evolve Championship and becoming a double champion in the process. The two eventually became a team, winning the Evolve Tag Team Titles.

8 Marty Scurll

One of the many promotions that Drew McIntyre competed for during his second run on the independent circuit was his former stomping grounds of the Scottish promotion Insane Championship Wrestling, or ICW, where he won the ICW Heavyweight Championship.

During his second run as ICW Champion, McIntyre had many successful defenses, as he held the championship for over a year. McIntyre defended his championship against current WWE stars like Drake Maverick (then known as Rockstar Spud), Killian Dain and yes, even The Villain and former Bullet Club member Marty Scurll.

7 Johnny Moss

While Johnny Moss may not be a name that many people recognize, he is definitely one of the biggest names in the British professional wrestling scene. Many people know him for his time as one-half of the WCPW Tag Team Champions, as he held the championship with Liam Slater as the muscle of the team. Currently, Moss works at the WWE Performance Center as a trainer.

However, before his time as a WWE worker, Johnny Moss competed for many promotions, including Evolve. After winning the Evolve Championship from Tony Nese, McIntyre defended the championship internationally against Moss.

6 Sabu

Back to McIntyre's second run as ICW Champion for this one, and in his initial return, McIntyre didn't suffer his first loss until he competed in a tag team match where he teamed with Grado against Sabu and former teammate Jack Jester. While Grado was pinned, it still counted as a loss for McIntyre.

Sabu and McIntyre would face off once again in an ICW Championship triple threat match with Jack Jester. McIntyre would ultimately retain his championship.

5 Trent Barretta

While Trent Barretta currently works in All Elite Wrestling as part of the Best Friends with Orange Cassidy and Trent's longtime tag team partner Chuck Taylor, Barretta doesn't always compete in tag team matches, as Barretta even had a brief run in WWE apart from Chuck Taylor.

This brief run in WWE was actually where this match took place, and it was not just one match, but a series of them. Before McIntyre would join Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal as 3MB, McIntyre wrestled Trent Barretta multiple times.

4 El Ligero

El Ligero is another man, like Will Ospreay, who wrestled for WCPW at the same time that Drew McIntyre was with the promotion. However, unlike Ospreay, Ligero and McIntyre never crossed paths there. While both men currently work for WWE, Ligero competes exclusively on the NXT UK show, meaning that he and McIntyre will likely never again cross paths.

Before joining WWE, these two men met at the promotion Real Quality Wrestling in 2007, where McIntyre would face off against and defeat El Ligero in a tournament to crown the inaugural RQW Heavyweight Championship.

3 Tommaso Ciampa

Before he was one half of #DIY, a triple crown champion, and the Blackheart of NXT that everyone knows and loves, Tommaso Ciampa faced off against Drew McIntyre on the independent circuit. In a one-night tournament for IWF, McIntyre made it all the way to the finals in a fatal four-way elimination match, competing against Brian Cage, Apollo Crews (then known as Uhaa Nation), and Kassius Ohno (then known as Chris Hero).

On his way to the tournament finals, McIntyre defeated many opponents, and one of those just happened to be Tommaso Ciampa.

2 Stevie Richards

Like the previously mentioned Sabu, the leader of the Blue World Order is another ECW veteran to face off against Drew McIntyre. This was another match that took place during his time as Evolve Champion. While McIntyre competed and defended the Evolve Championship overseas against people like Johnny Moss and Killian Dain, McIntyre also defended the championship in the United States.

While he lost in a match against Ricochet, who was then the Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate Champion, McIntyre would defeat men like Rich Swann and Stevie Richards.

1 Cody Rhodes

Since this list began with a match that happened in WCPW, it should just as well end with a match that happened in WCPW. While McIntyre and Cody Rhodes barely crossed paths in WWE except to form a brief alliance, they competed against each other while both men were on the independent circuit.

After dropping his WCPW Heavyweight Championship to Martin Kirby, McIntyre made his last appearance for the promotion when he competed at the WCPW Pro Wrestling World Cup Qualifying event, losing in a match against Cody Rhodes.

NEXT: AEW: 10 Things Fans Should Know About Cody Rhodes