During a recent appearance on the Wrestling Inc Daily Podcast, Wade Barrett, aka Stu Bennett, revealed that WWE offered him the chance to return for a planned Nexus reunion scheduled to happen during WrestleMania 36.
Bennett revealed that he'd gotten a call from the WWE talent relations team back in January or February regarding the company's plan to have a Nexus reunion during WrestleMania weekend, which also coincided with the 10th Anniversary of the former faction.
Darren Young was the first to spill the beans regarding a possible Nexus reunion being in the works for WrestleMania 36 weekend. Bennett even had a conversation with Young shortly after he rejected WWE's proposal.
"I was called in January or February by the Talent Relations team in WWE about something they wanted to do during WrestleMania to coincide with the 10th Anniversary of Nexus. I actually turned it down as I didn't like the offer or the plan. I saw Darren just after that and he said he was gonna go and do something with them. But I wasn't going to be involved in whatever it was."
Why did Wade Barrett turn down WWE's offer?
The former WWE Superstar said that he turned down the offer as he didn't see how it would benefit him. Bennett added that he would have given WWE's offer a thought had it been more significant, which in this case, it sadly wasn't.
"In all honestly, if it had been something more significant, I would have paid it more attention. But it was something, to me, that I wasn't interested in doing. There was no benefit at all, for me, in doing it, and I wasn't excited about it, so I turned the offer down."
Bennett had a relatively fruitful career in the WWE as Wade Barrett from 2006 until his exit in 2016. He debuted on the main roster as the leader of the Nexus, and while he was a hot prospect during the early days of his career, the hype died down due to some questionable booking decisions. Before leaving the WWE, Bennett would become a 5-time Intercontinental Champion.
Apart from a few non-wrestling appearances for independent promotions, Bennett has not returned to the ring since quitting WWE