WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley disclosed how he played an unsung role in Drew McIntyre's eventual return to the wrestling giant. Speaking on his podcast "Foley is Pod," Foley shared that he had been paying attention to McIntyre's performances in Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and felt compelled to reach out to WWE Executive Vice President, Triple H, about the rising star.

“Drew will admit that there are times to go out there [on the indies] and be that guy from WWE,” Foley explained, as quoted by Fightful. “But when it really counted, like with Insane Championship Wrestling — people need to know, just from the onset, I rarely text the powers that be and in this case, I texted Hunter after Drew sent me something.”

Foley went on to reveal that he and McIntyre weren't particularly close friends but had a mutual respect. When McIntyre sent him something intriguing that he was working on, Foley took immediate action. "The first thing I did, and he’d only been gone like a month, I texted Triple H and said, ‘I know you just released him, but you need to keep your eye on Drew McIntyre. He’s like an entirely different person.’ Sometimes you just need to go there. You may find out by betting on yourself that you’re only as good as WWE told you you were, but man, the two dirtiest words in the English language, ‘What if?'"