Wade Barrett had an interesting career with WWE that was full of ups and downs. He started his run at the top of the WWE ladder as the leader of Nexus and it seemed that he was destined for big things. Unfortunately Nexus fizzled out quickly, and Barrett struggled to find his spot on the card in the years that followed.
Eventually he started using the Bad News Barrett gimmick where he would make his way out into the arena and deliver bad news to the crowd. Barrett was supposed to be a heel, but the Bad News Barrett gimmick caught on quickly, and fans started to cheer him, but as soon as the gimmick started picking up momentum, it was taken away from him. During a recent interview with SportBible, Wade Barrett opened up about why he had to change his gimmick.
“The problem with Bad News was that I was getting a babyface reaction. It was one of those things where it was supposed to be a heel thing but I think people were so entertained by it that they started cheering it and look forward to it, even though I am insulting them. Vince never wanted me was a babyface, he thought I wrestled like a heel and I was English. He didn’t want me to be a babyface at all, which was fine and I was happy being a heel.”
“But I think sometimes the crowd dictates things and even though Vince wants me as a heel, you can’t put me as a heel and the only way we could really turn me back into a heel, and stop them cheering for me, was to take away ‘Bad News’. At that point, I was just a guy who had nothing, so I was coming out, I wasn’t allowed to do the catchphrase or anything like that. I was just a very bland guy. So they gave me King of the Ring as something to do, I suppose, but doing a King of the Ring in this day and age just doesn’t work. It might have worked in the 80’s but I think wearing a crown and scepter in this day, to me, it doesn’t work.”
The former Intercontinental Champion also opened up about why he parted ways with WWE, and he said that after he realized his position in the company wasn’t going to change, he decided to move on.
“I didn’t really ask to be released. My contract was coming to an end, I’d been there just over nine years at that point – I was not happy with the way my creative had gone and not happy with some stuff behind the scenes, and the way I’d been treated by certain people there, so in my opinion it was time to move on and do something else, at least for a while. I’d been offered a new contract by them, I didn’t want to sign; I told them, I was upfront with them. I don’t think they were thrilled about it but there’s not a lot you can do – I felt that I was wasting my time there.”
Do you think WWE should have let Wade keep the Bad News Barrett gimmick? Sound off in the comments below.
