#9 Bad New Barrett
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After winning the first series of NXT, an accomplishment that promised Barett a future World title shot, and then becoming the leader of the NEXUS, quite possibly the most exciting faction since Evolution, the future really did look bright for the former bare-knuckle brawler.
Things started to go seriously downhill though after the NEXUS lost to team WWE at Summerslam 2010 – a result that still irks the minds of WWE fans across the globe. The group itself never really recovered from that, and the title matches Wade was involved in were always tied up with strange stipulations like John Cena’s career being on the line.
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It was very difficult to take the guy seriously as a championship contender.
After being made to fend for himself, Barret soon stumbled across a gimmick that looked like it would transition him back to the main event scene. Wade would come to the ring and basically inform the audience that what they wanted to happen, wasn’t going to happen, and began each promo with ‘I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news’.
From there, the Bad News Barret gimmick was born. This was a great example of a gimmick getting over unexpectedly, the audience loved to hear the Englishman drone on about something negative, bashing his hammer into the desk as he spoke.
Others in the company even started impersonating him, leading to scenes in which HHH and Stephanie would attempt awful English accents.
Sadly for Wade, it was an injury that put a premature end to this gimmick, rather than a quick change of plans by management. However, there was no reason he could not have continued it upon his return. He was once in contention to break the Undertaker’s streak too, which says a lot about his potential.
Wade would soon find himself as a generic heel again, struggling to make himself relevant. It all seems rather bizarre considering it was never his in-ring work that let the guy down, all he needed was that one engaging gimmick to make him a star, and by the looks of it, he had found just the one.
Instead, he was put into the ‘League of Nations’ and was soon shown the door for good.
