Wade Barrett has been pretty disappointing so far.

[mike adamle]

Besides Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett was the one person everyone figured would succeed from NXT.

He hasn't had a bad career so far. But it seems like others from the show have found their niche already whereas Wade just seems to always get lost in the shuffle.

It's probably more how he's booked than his talents that make me think this way. I always want to root for the guy, but he never really steps up to the occasion, and when he does have a match that makes you think he's improving he just goes right back to doing what he was doing before.

What do you think?

[Keith]

I don't think he'll ever get back to the level he was at while he was the leader of Nexus and had his feud with John Cena.

It's crazy to think he reached the peak of his career so quickly, but I think he did.

[Ultra Mantis]

He was never spectacular in the ring. Moving him to Smackdown at a time when it was all 15 minute matches and only the top guys got to talk regular really killed his momentum. If they wanted to build him up as a big deal again they easily could.

[Bad News Gertner]

He still has plenty of time. He's a 3 time champion. Not a main event level guy, but upper card with short world title reigns I could see. Love Wade Barrett.

[Triple Naitch]

Wade probably needs a Money in the Bank win more than anyone right now.

[Keith]

Wade probably needs a Money in the Bank win more than anyone right now.

Curtis Axel will win the MITB.

[Bad News Gertner]

Ugh, please no. Barrett brings way more to the table than Axel.

[Keith]

Lemme guess, Gertner. Axel's a no-charisma vanilla midget?

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol he's the very definition

[XL]

Barrett only had one place to go having debuted as the biggest heel in the company/feuding with Cena. Unfortunately he hasn't been given the opportunity to build his way back up. He's one of the guys that the WHC in it's current form would be perfect for.

[Shadrick]

He's not near his potential yet. Give him time.

[The Condor]

Not his fault. Remember watching a 2011 PPV match between Wade and DBry that had minimal build up and an apathetic crowd. Within 10 minutes the two of them had the crowd completely into it and not due just to DBry, but Wade is a damn fine worker and showed me a lot that night. His mic skills are great too. They just have no direction for him.

[WeedThePeople]

http://cdn.tweetwood.com/images/celeb/735/71/17sw4w/WadeBarrett-d2x9-570x.jpg

[DAMN iNATOR]

Def. still a future World Champion at this point.

[CSL]

Lemme guess, Gertner. Axel's a no-charisma vanilla midget?

he is somewhat void of any variety of presence or character. Do or die time for him right now, if he can't succeed in this spot he's wound up in, he doesn't stand a chance

[Joesgonnakillyou]

brb, gonna go to bleacher report for some sensible discussion

[MIZantine Empire]

Wasn't he set to grab the mitb before his shoulder injury? Seems like they were pushing him quite well before that disastrous injury.

[Theo Dious]

He was on a good track, then he got injured, then he came back, then got injured again. That'll stall anyone.

[MIZantine Empire]

I still see some potential for big things with him.. But I feel like that was his chance.. And sadly I think this level is where he is going to stay..

[#1-norm-fan]

When Barrett came back from injury with those street fighting vignettes, I was all ready to praise them for finally giving someone from the muddled midcard something not as generic to work with.

Then he became generic pussy heel #57, started jobbing a lot and now is a victim of the writers' laziness and lack of dedication to any character building. Build him up as the legit fighter who doesn't back down from shit again and have him win enough over time to where beating him is actually an accomplishment and you've got yourself a star. It shouldn't be that hard. The guy is pretty good.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Having great matches with top stars. Not sure how better you can judge him since hes a 3 time Intercontiental Champion. Depends on what happens if they continue this Fandango feud and have Fandango win it to make Jericho a potential 10-time IC champion.

He might get held in a holding pattern until they find something to do with him. I hope not. He proved he was a main eventer in 2010 with his matches with Orton and Cena.

[mike adamle]

Having great matches with top stars. Not sure how better you can judge him since hes a 3 time Intercontiental Champion. Depends on what happens if they continue this Fandango feud and have Fandango win it to make Jericho a potential 10-time IC champion.

He might get held in a holding pattern until they find something to do with him. I hope not. He proved he was a main eventer in 2010 with his matches with Orton and Cena.

What has he done for the Intercontinental Title when he's won it? I barley remember his first reign, alls I know is that he lost it to.... Ezekiel Jackson.

And what has he done with the belt the last two reigns?

I don't remember anything other than him losing the belt to The Miz and then winning it right back the next night for no reason.

I'd say that right now, for the last few months the United States championship has become much more prestigious than the Intercontinental Title, and I've felt that probably since Wade took a hold of the strap. Now that may be his fault, that may be how he's booked, but either way that IC belt is just forgettable right now. Has Wade even defended it since he beat The Miz for it the night after Mania?

And his matches with Orton were super boring, and the Cena ones were superhero Cena matches that made Wade look worse after (excluding the match at 2010 Hell In A Cell that he actually won, which is his biggest match/win of his career.)

[mike adamle]

When Barrett came back from injury with those street fighting vignettes, I was all ready to praise them for finally giving someone from the muddled midcard something not as generic to work with.

Then he became generic pussy heel #57, started jobbing a lot and now is a victim of the writers' laziness and lack of dedication to any character building. Build him up as the legit fighter who doesn't back down from shit again and have him win enough over time to where beating him is actually an accomplishment and you've got yourself a star. It shouldn't be that hard. The guy is pretty good.

Agreed, I thought he was gonna be awesome when those vignettes were playing. Then he came back. Had a good match with Sheamus. Won The IC Belt twice. But has done absolutely nothing with it and nothing outside of it either. He had that little storyline where he was in that movie and everyone made fun of him because he barley had a spot in it, probably hurt him too. I remember I went to and SD taping with my bro and his friend, his friend was laughing his ass off since he didn't even see the dude in the movie preview he was bragging about and showing. lol

[stultiloquy]

Regal should be Barrett's manager, it would help give him some personality, some credibility (yeah, he's a 3-time champ, but all I ever see him do is lose), and then he could learn 'The Power of the Punch'.

Also, he really needs new entrance music, that unintelligible butt-rock he has now really doesn't suit him.

[Emperor Smeat]

I'd put the blame partially on the writers and partially on Big Show injuring him.

Outside of the WWE title and recent tag title reign by Hell No, the writers have been mostly horrible using title reigns as a way to build wrestlers. Barret suffered the same problems Cesaro had in that he was pushed well leading into the reign but once he became a champion, looked really weak with all the losing that lead nowhere.

Big Show injuring his arm was a big momentum killer since prior to the injury, he was slowly being built up to the point of being heavily rumored as the next candidate for the MitB case and possible future WWE/WHC reign. Hasn't really been the same momentum-wise since the injury.

[#1-norm-fan]

Also, he really needs new entrance music, that unintelligible butt-rock he has now really doesn't suit him.

He debuted a new theme on Raw.

[#1-norm-fan]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ddObpSjEJBo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[mike adamle]

It would help if he found a song that fit him. Every theme he gets seems to not fit with his character.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I thought End Of Days fit him perfectly along with the original Nexus theme. I think this one is pretty good now that they've done away with his horrid 3rd theme. Themes don't need lyrics when the guy is supposed to be a bad ass bare knuckle brawler.

[#1-norm-fan]

What character?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

1) Disgruntled NXT whipping boy who had enough. Leader of Nexus and the Corre.

2) Bad ass bare knuckle brawler.

3) Rose on jacket guy.

[#1-norm-fan]

Right now he's more "'Tough guy' who jobs and does analysis on the PPV pre/post show and for some reason carries around a title" guy. I'm not sure what kind of theme would work for that character. Maybe "Road to Nowhere" by Talking Heads?

[mike adamle]

I think "Drama" by Ice-T would be good

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[Skippord]

love Wade Barrett, think he should be far more successful than he has been. Also if booking was logical he would've been a world champion at least once when he was leading Nexus

[The CHT]

If Barrett was booked the same way the Shield has been he would be a superstar. Instead, after being the biggest heel in the company and the best new face in a long time he got:
1) Outsmarted by Super Cena
2) Kicked out of his own group by Punk
3) Demoted to Smackdown and given the equivalent of the NWO B-Team with the Core
4) Had one feud with Orton that was meh
5) Now currently wrestles midcarders 4-Life like Kofi Kingston for a belt that means jack shit. The fact that he lost the title to Miz on a Wrestlemania pre-show and then won it back the next night shows how misused this guy is.

He has a great look, is strong on the mic and is decent in the ring. I don't get it.

[The CHT]

What's happened to Wade is equivalent to having the Shield drop all the titles, go to Smackdown and start feuding with jobbers like the Usos.

[Rammsteinmad]

With today's writers, that doesn't sound too unrealistic.

[Bad News Gertner]

I LOVE Wade's theme song.

[Bad News Gertner]

Wait a minute....when the fuck did they change his theme!!! It's horrible!

[Anybody Thrilla]

I actually liked that 'I don't care what you think of me' theme too. The new one doesn't sound terrible, but I wouldn't have changed it.

[Bad News Gertner]

Ugh, worst change since they changed the Prime Time Players theme

[KIRA]

Ugh, worst change since they changed the Prime Time Players theme


You liked Barretts last theme? it sounds like somebody hit record and then tossed a guitar into a pile of snare drums and glass,It's the worst theme I've heard since Jeff Hardy's "Modest"

[Anybody Thrilla]

No way. Listen to the whole thing.

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[GD]

They should change the old Nexus theme from "We walk alone..." to "I walk alone..." just like they transitioned Eddie Guerrero's "Lie, Cheat and Steal" theme from the Los Guerreros theme.

[Emperor Smeat]

Might as well just use Batista's theme if you want the "I walk alone" tone without needing the effort and time to rework the Nexus "We walk alone" theme.

[GD]

I am just imaging the crowd reaction :lol:

[Mr. Nerfect]

They should change the old Nexus theme from "We walk alone..." to "I walk alone..." just like they transitioned Eddie Guerrero's "Lie, Cheat and Steal" theme from the Los Guerreros theme.

"I am one, I am one, I will stand together..."

[Mr. Nerfect]

"End of Days" really suited Barrett, in my opinion. It created this idea of sleazy bars and a dull wasteland of a future, which I think worked with the direction Barrett had as a character. I didn't hate his last theme, but I felt the change from "End of Days" hurt it.

As for Barrett himself -- the man is best when he is given a mic and allowed to just be a no-nonsense talker. Recently he's been "quieter," and that doesn't really fit a renegade that took knuckles to the top stars of the WWE in pursuit of the WWE Championship in his rookie year with the company. I'm one of the few that think Barrett never should have won the WWE Title in 2010, but I felt the booking of the Cena/Nexus stuff went a bit awry around Survivor Series '10. I've said this constantly, but I think that Cena should have gone ape-shit and attacked Barrett (instead of just "losing it" for a second with Barrett) and accepted his firing because "the WWE Championship means too much to tarnish by handing it to you on a silver platter." Instead of firing Cena, Barrett would have manned up and wanted Cena in a match at TLC. Barrett could have beaten Cena after Cena was more focused on hurting Barrett than actually winning the match, and then on RAW Barrett would have tried to fire Cena, and gotten away with it, but Cena would have been rehired, because Barrett doesn't have hiring and firing powers. Or been given a SmackDown contract (the brand split was still going at this time), and he could have won the 2011 Royal Rumble, jumped back over to RAW and challenged The Miz for the WWE Title at WrestleMania still. Barrett, in my opinion, was due to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania that year, but we got Triple H wanting to face Taker instead. Cena could have gone over Barrett in a "get off my turf" match at the Elimination Chamber PPV after the gong went off and Taker returned to get revenge after being buried by Nexus -- giving Cena momentum heading into the main event and setting up for Taker/Barrett.

WrestleMania has actually been hurting a lot of lower-card guys recently, what with focus on bigger stars and one-off appearances. It's completely understandable why the WWE does that, but momentum for "rising stars" often goes out the window around WrestleMania time (see the Nexus/Corre around 2011, Rhodes Scholars this year, and even guys like Dolph Ziggler). Barrett's also been recently miscast as Intercontinental Champion. He's never really suited the title, and seems way too "upper-card" to really get a boost from holding it, and his match quality, while solid, doesn't really help the title out. He's also seemingly been in a never-ending feud with The Miz, and the two just don't really have great chemistry, despite both being great talkers. It almost seems more natural to like Barrett on the mic, because he's not as frilly as The Miz, who works as a heel promo but is lacking size to Barrett's more ruthless style in the ring. Adding Fandango to the mix, a guy that both guys can legitimately want to beat up on and get fans behind them doing so, has been the most refreshing thing about the program and will probably be the best thing for the Intercontinental Title since Cody Rhodes tried to make people care about it.

I think Fandango manages to pin The Miz at Payback in a Triple Threat also involving Barrett, and the audience is given a legitimate reason to feel bad for Barrett -- losing his hard-fought title without being in the decision. Fandango dances around and taunts Barrett with it, which makes Wade just want to knock Fandango in the teeth. It'll be a simple story and might actually give people a reason to care about Barrett's relationship with the IC Title (something they haven't really done in the three reigns Barrett has already had).

Also, given that they are both English and, for some reason, there seems to be a desire to put all English people in the WWE together, they could call up Paige to feud with Summer Rae while Barrett and Fandango knock the piss out of each other. Two feuds people might care about, since Paige has this knack for actually getting people to care about her as a female performer (and Summer Rae seems the same). A Barrett/Paige relationship, given the age difference between the two, with Barrett being more an "older brother/protector" type could actually make for charming television and show humanity behind the cold exterior of the man who grew up fighting.

[KIRA]

No way. Listen to the whole thing.

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DAMN YOU ABT! ok I admit its fine actually getting to hear it clearly Its no "End of Days" but its cool, therefore "Modest" still sits atop my crappy theme list.

[Curd]

I agree with Noid and suggest Barrett's resurgence will come when he stars in a Fight Club sequel.