After months and months and months of speculation, Drew McIntyre finally signed a new contract with WWE, ending any speculation about jumping to another promotion like AEW or even the possibility that he could leave and take a break from wrestling altogether after relentless years and years on the road.

But why did it take so long for McIntyre to sign on the dotted line? Is it because he wanted to optimize his earning power via a drawn-out negotiation period? Well, in a special interview with PW Insider, McIntyre explained that the decision really came down to doing what's right for himself and his family, as after spending years putting his career first, he wants to now focus on doing what's right for his family.

“I am great. It's an exciting time in my life and my career, as you mentioned, just re-signing with WWE and watching where the company is and where we're going. You know, I just had to be part of it, and, you know, personally, things are looking great. And I'm very, very excited to get back home to Scotland. Not just for obviously the first ever Scottish PLE, with Clash of the Castle, again to see everybody back home because that's so important to me these days. I've spent so many years away, sacrificing so much and realizing that it's my family that truly sacrificed you know, their son, I have a cousin, their uncle, their brother. And anytime I can get back, which is way more often these days, is a huge bonus to me,” Drew McIntyre told PW Insider.

“It's the hardest thing that I've had to deal with. This was always the dream since I was a kid – make it to WWE, and honestly, I'd never truly considered, oh yeah, you have to move to America, until I got signed. I was talking about this earlier during an interview, and I did all the work, I had the self-belief. I was like, I'm going to be the first ever Scottish person signed directly from Scotland to WWE, and I finally did it. I had the contract in my hand, and I went, wait – I have to move to America and taking that into account, and I'm so close with my family, so close with my mother, it was very hard to be away. But they were so encouraging, kept pushing me forward, keep chasing the dream.

“When you're young, you can put yourself in that mode of just work, work, work. When I was a kid – work, work, work, party, party, party. You don't think too much, but years can slip by really quickly, and I'd get home maybe once a year during that period. It wasn't enough, but over these past few years, I've grown up a lot more, I started thinking a lot more about back home and seeing people not with us anymore, like my mom, and my dad getting older, and my brother having my nephews, two kids, and seeing how big they get, I realize – I want to be working on my dream, I don't want to give that up, but at the same time I want to be home more, I want to try to find that balance cause that's where I'm at in my life now and thankfully, thanks to Nick Khan and Triple H and WWE, we got there, where I feel comfortable with my family and my wife and I feel comfortable, I'm gonna be able to give to the company and give to my family at the same time.”

Well, that's all well and good, but did McIntyre actually consider leaving WWE for another opportunity outside of the promotion? Well, the “Scottish Warrior” answered that question, too, letting fans know that when it comes down to professional wrestling, there's only one place he wants to be.

Drew McIntyre never considered wrestling anywhere but WWE.

Evaluating the prospects of wrestling outside of WWE in order to earn an even bigger deal long-term, Drew McIntyre effectively shut that idea down on the spot, letting PW Insider know that there's only one place he wants to be at this point in his career, as they know his family and are willing to work with his specific needs.

“It was never a consideration, no. I'm wrestling with the WWE, I don't think… in the sense that, what, am I gonna go wrestle somewhere else? Because this is where I want to wrestle,” Drew McIntyre declared. “I don't want to be anywhere else, but our family has gone through a lot over the past year. My wife's sister unfortunately passed a year ago yesterday. That was very difficult, and I felt like I'm gonna have to take some serious time for my family. There was a period where I was like, maybe I'll just have to take a little break and come back and you know, just some uncertainty but no, thankfully as a family we came together, WWE gave me the time I needed whenever I needed it during that period. In the end, you know, as a family, we came together, we had a conversation, what was best for us, the company were unbelievable with that, and thankfully, everybody is in a great place right now.”

Welp, there you have it, folks; all of those “Drew Galloway is All Elite” graphics were completely unnecessary, and all of the fun dream matches fans planned out will remain just that, as McIntyre is where he wants to be for himself and his family at this point in his career.