Drew McIntyre has disclosed that he was close to signing with NJPW before re-signing with WWE in 2017.

McIntyre returned to WWE after a few years of rebuilding his character in various promotions, and his success outside WWE almost convinced him he didn't need to return. He recently said in an interview with "The Joe Vulpis Podcast" that he wanted to sign with New Japan after his time with TNA came to an end.

"I realized as the success was coming, maybe I don't want to go back [to WWE]," said McIntyre. "So, when the time came with TNA, where I was working and I was champion, to not re-sign, I was okay. New management ain't feeling that for the future. I think I want to go to Japan. So, I started having initial conversations to go to Japan, like, towards New Japan. A couple of the guys who worked over there were going to speak to the bosses for me."

The Scotsman's mind, though, switched after having a conversation with Triple H, who convinced him that the best decision for him was to return to WWE.

"In my head, I was like, 'Ah, I feel like I'm going to go to Japan first and then see what happens there.' And within two minutes of the conversation with Hunter, it was like, 'Damn it. It's time to come back.' I'm like, 'You knew and I knew.' It was like, 'Okay, it's now time.' I'd been gone for three years. Was 32 at the time, felt very comfortable in myself. He'd been watching what's going on, could see I've kind of grown up, not just as a performer but as a man as well."

McIntyre revealed that William Regal reached out to him after reading an article about him being a free agent and asked him to speak to Triple H. He added that he was keen to begin in "NXT" in his second spell in WWE and try to trick Vince McMahon into thinking he was a different, new person, eventually earning a spot on the main roster, which seems to have worked out as planned.