Drew McIntyre has reached the top of the professional wrestling mountain. 

He became WWE Champion at WrestleMania 36, beating Brock Lesnar for the title. 

By doing so, the Scotsman became the first British-born wrestler in the company's history to hold a world championship. 

But it only came after a remarkable journey full of setbacks and suffering. 

We all know the story by now - McIntyre had a run in WWE between 2008 and 2014 - when Vince McMahon even declared him as 'a future world champion'.

But that didn't work out and six years after breaking through, the Scotsman was released. 

He worked the indy circuit between 2014 and 2017 before returning to WWE and well, the rest is history. 

McIntyre has established himself as a main-event star and it might in part be to some help from Kurt Angle. 

When the WWE Hall of Famer returned himself in 2017, his first match on RAW was against the Scottish Psychopath. 

Before their clash, Mr McMahon found Angle backstage and told him they need to 'make' Drew - so Kurt gave him the rub - by letting his opponent use his finisher. 

"Vince McMahon came to me and said, 'We've got to make this kid. Just do what you have to do to make him,'" the WWE legend told Sports Illustrated, per Wrestling Inc

"So I sat down with Drew and told him that he was going to use my ankle lock. You can't ask for a more dominating win than using someone else's finisher on them." 

WWE are often criticised for bringing back old talent, but Angle made McIntyre look like a star that night. 

You can see highlights of their match below: 

During the same interview, Angle also revealed he knew the Scotsman would be a big star when their paths crossed in TNA. 

"I know Drew didn't do as well as he would have liked the first time he was in WWE, but I knew he was special when I saw him in TNA," he said.

"He looked great then, but he still didn't look the way he looks now – he worked his ass off, built his body up, and he looks fantastic. I knew if WWE got a hold of him, his career would take off." 

McIntyre had to scratch and crawl to reach the top of the mountain, but he's finally there - and it seems McMahon and Angle knew all along he'd be a star, despite the setbacks.