Booking Wade Barrett's Return.

[I am Mr. Excitement]

I think WWE can really make Barrett's return a big deal. He was obviously being pushed pretty good as a high midcarder. How would you book Barrett's return?

My scenerio: If Barrett is only out for a few months thats fine, but I think that WWE could make it bigger by having him stay out until around SummerSlam and him return and attack who ever is champion then (hopefully Sheamus). He can deffenatly hit the gym more, and the weights harder. He can come back bigger and more tone. Kind of like Cody Rhodes last year with Rey Mysterio when he came back more buff and tone. I dont know but I think if Barrett comes back at the right time to put him in a good fued he can become major player in the game.

So, How would you book Wade Barrett's return? Thoughts, opinions, discuss..

 

[bk555]

I say you make him take out orton. Once Wrestlemania is over, i assume Bryan retains and goes onto feud with orton. Around Summerslam, have Orton win the title off of Bryan and then, you make Orton and Barrett pick up where they left off. This could lead to wade's first true run as a world champion so the injury is not as bad of a scenario as possible.

 

[zach1302]

What I think would be cool would be to have him wait till MitB, and then have him win one while not even in the match. Think about it, you have guys wrestling for briefcase and everyone is knocked out, then all of a sudden Barrett comes out and climbs the ladder, takes the briefcase, and wins. Even better would be if they give the title back to Orton and have Barrett cash it in on Orton that same night and have a LMS match or an I Quit match at Summerslam where Barrett wins the title.

 

[Raptor93]

Idk think bryan will retain at mania, I think this will be were he gets his camuffins. Also while barret did great in his time prior to the injury he definitely lost alot of steam so I would have him in a non title feud, maybe take out someone like big show or orton then move on to the world title

 

[Hurricanrana Radio]

Have him return as the monster heel type with a chip on his shoulder. Have Barrett take out everyone and put him right to the top. His time is long over due.

 

[King of the Words]

I would have Barrett come back, accusing Big Show for his injury. They would have a mini feud which Barrett wins and goes on to the WHC. title scene. I would have Sheamus eventually take the title from Bryan and successfully defend it against Orton. Barrett could win the MITB and cash in on sheamus that night. After becoming WHC., Barrett could form the Barrett Barrage faction to help protect him and the title from Sheamus, Orton and Bryan. The Group would be composed of Wade Barrett, Regal, Mason Ryan, and Drew Mac. Sort of a U.K. version of Evolution. Drew could win the INC. title and Regal and Ryan could become the tag team champions. They could even have Layla join and become Divas Champion. The Barrage could control Smack down for the better part of a year before they implode and turn on each other. I would love to see this happen.

 

[TomBradyWoot]

I would have Barrett come back, accusing Big Show for his injury. They would have a mini feud which Barrett wins and goes on to the WHC. title scene. I would have Sheamus eventually take the title from Bryan and successfully defend it against Orton. Barrett could win the MITB and cash in on sheamus that night. After becoming WHC., Barrett could form the Barrett Barrage faction to help protect him and the title from Sheamus, Orton and Bryan. The Group would be composed of Wade Barrett, Regal, Mason Ryan, and Drew Mac. Sort of a U.K. version of Evolution. Drew could win the INC. title and Regal and Ryan could become the tag team champions. They could even have Layla join and become Divas Champion. The Barrage could control Smack down for the better part of a year before they implode and turn on each other. I would love to see this happen.

While I like this UK group storyline, it was basically a storyline in RTWM in WWE 12 (except Sheamus was the leader of the group).

Which is too bad because I thought "Wow, this actually might've been pretty decent had they used it for TV".

 

[MrAdam87]

Promo wise, we may get and probably should get vignettes leading up to Barrett's return. I would use the sound of an Air Raid Siren to begin those videos and to signal that the "Barrett Barrage" is set to continue.
Cut together all the best moments of Barrett, demonstrating how ruthless and aggressive Barrett was becoming before he was sidelined.
Then to tease the closeness of his return I would have the air raid siren cutting in at the crucial points of some matches like a Orton v Bryan or Bryan v Sheamus.
Then finally have him return proper and clean house, setting up for whatever feud he will be booked into for his return.

When guys on the rise like Barrett get injured, and even when established stars do, it lends its self to actually help said talent on their return. Look at Kurt Angle for example, who was injured and out for a long time and on his return was a huge success as a face.

Another example is HHH who is one of the best at being a Heel, the crowd loved to hate him for the better part of the late nineties while he battled Rock and Austin, it wasn't until he was out for nine months that fans realised how much they not only loved to hate HHH but how much he entertained us as a result. Now we all remember the reception HHH got on his return and his character had evolved the same as it would have had he not been injured in the first place but it still felt fresh.
Now im not saying make Barrett a face, not at all. All I am saying is that the anticipation for the return of someone who for the most part the crowd enjoys watching helps to make whatever return gimmick is chosen work better and i hope this is the Barrett Barrage, and that it continues but with an evolution that would have occurred in these next few months either way.
Lets hope Barrett will return stronger and better then ever.

 

[Scofield]

Holy spam fuck...

As for Wade Barrett, such a shame for him to go down when he did. As for what to do with him or how to book his return? I would keep him on TV. If anyone has watched FCW, he does an amazing job as a commentator, so he could do a little commentary while he is out OR he could play some sort of role with Laurnitis as an authority figure. I say keep him on TV.

 

[KnowMyRole-ShutYourMouth]

The only good thing I can say about Wade Barrett's injury is it hopefully gives him and WWE creative time to come up with a fucking decent theme song for the guy. I've never seen someone with so much talent get consistently saddled which such crappy music.

Anyways, now that I got that out of the way. I like the idea of him returning to avenge his injury against Randy Orton as champion. Really, I don't think it matters who he comes back after. Maybe it's Punk for taking over Nexus blah blah blah. The point is, when he returns, he should be inserted into a major program immediately. I'd rather him not go the MITB route that so many guys go, and he legit wins the World Title on his own (even if it is in Sheamus fashion).

 

[Twocenter]

Like the OP said, Wade should hit the gym and tone hard. Get over that 260-265 lbs range. This will make him look even more powerful and realistic to take out the Big Show or even Mark Henry. I know he can do it in 245 lbs as well but at least make him look something like Brock Lesnar. I don't mean he should go all out to 300 lbs.. just a bit more to add to his character or gimmick.

If I were to book:

There should be a championship match somewhere around July-August. Maybe Sheamus/Orton vs Bryan/Someone else. In the middle of the match when the face champ is dominating Barret should return and attack him causing disqualification. He should attack the heel opponent as well to make him look ruthless. Then, the next week I'd give him the mic and he'd tell that his eyes are set on the biggest prize. I'd give him the title as soon as possible to book his reign as dominant not failure. I think he has a lot to offer as the world champion and he should come back with a changed gimmick.

 

[JerichoHolic00]

What if he returned at Money in the Bank or the night after and attacked CM Punk? Sure it might not make much sense but its not like WWE always makes sense.. And a feud between Punk and Barrett would be class.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

The only issue is when Barrett returns the fans may cheer him and welcome him back with open arms, unless he returns, and attacks a top face.

Big Show is pretty much the only person fucking responsible for his injury, which also halts Barrett's push seeing as he was going to be booked to win the MITB match at WM28, which would push him to the WHC/WWE Title at some point within the next year.

When Barrett returns, have him attack Big Show, and work a program with him for a few months, because of Big Show costing Barrett his WM28 moment, and so on and so forth. Obviously have Barrett go over Show, because its the right thing to do. Then have Barrett move into a feud with Sheamus.

When Barrett returns, he's going to need to make a huge impact. Lets say Sheamus walks out of WM28 as champion, Barrett is set to return around June or July. Barrett and Sheamus both feuded a little on Smackdown late last year, but never really got to pick up a full feud. With a returning Barrett and Sheamus as Champion we could see a full blow feud develop between the two, with a match for the WHC at Summer Slam. That gives Sheamus time to feud with Bryant, and Barrett a chance to come back and build some momentum to head into a main event feud with Sheamus.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

What's he out for? 3 to 4 months? If so that's take him up till about the Money In The Bank PPV. I'd have that match consist mostly of Smackdown's B list and towards the end of the match, when everybody is spent have Barrett casually stroll down to the ring. Take out a few people. Casually take the briefcase and then walk out. Great way for him to return and make an impact. He'd also have a story going forward because he wasn't an official participant in the match.

At SummerSlam he faces and easily defeats the biggest babyface who was in the Money In The Bank match. Then he spends from then until WrestleMania winning matches before cashing in and winning on the big show.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It seems as though he will be out of action until this summer. I'd say wait and see when he will truly be ready to come back by. It's a shame he will miss out on Wrestlemania this year, but things happen. They do not want to risk bringing him back too soon. Assuming he will be out until June or July, I think that starting in May they need to begin airing videos to hype his comeback. This is crucial. The more a return is hyped, the bigger of a deal it becomes when the wrestler shows up onscreen. Having him randomly return without any type of warning or advertising would be a huge mistake and could easily damage the odds of his push working out.

After a month or so of the videos, they should have him return and attack a top face. He should then restart his Barrett Barrage push. Money In the Bank will be upcoming, so they could then cotinue their plan of having him walk out with one of the briefcases. If either of the champions are a face (Punk or Sheamus come to mind) then have him cash in on them, and you have a great world title feud ready to go along with Barrett finally holding a world title and being more over as a heel than he has been since the days of Nexus.

 

[Planty]

Honestly, I feel the best way is a combination of the ideas within this thread.

The air-raid siren idea from MrAdam87 is GENIUS. I wouldn't include moments of Barrett in there though. I would simply have an air-raid siren playing, clips of different big names on Smackdown (Bryan, Orton, Big Show etc) in black and white and clips of alarms and all sorts, finishing with a little bit of No More Sorrow by Linkin Park at the end (literally from 14 seconds to 16 seconds below), quickly cycling through the superstars. After two weeks of these promos, there would be a red rose at the end, the only part that isn't in black and white (signifying the rose on Barrett's jacket).

[youtube]AyBFySXi6Cc[/youtube]

Then I'd go with Zach1302 and Y 2 Jake's idea of Barrett marching down and taking the briefcase at Money In The Bank. The air raid siren would sound followed by No More Sorrow playing (his new theme, hopefully, as it would fit his dark, smug, calculated walk in the jacket perfectly). He'd end up taking the briefcase whilst not being an official participant, which of course lends to easy feuds with faces about the legitimacy of his win. From here on in, the Barrett Barrage continues.

 

[TheHeartbreakPunk]

I would have him come back as more of a silent character. I know that hes golden on the mic, nut the reason for when he finally speaks is that he thought the reason for orton always getting the better of him was because he was always focused on telling the fans how good he was and that he could destroy randly in the blink of an eye. Now, he done talking. He doesnt need the fans to know that he can beat randy orton, cause he can prove himself no matter what.

 

[GrandSword]

I would have Barrett come back, accusing Big Show for his injury. They would have a mini feud which Barrett wins and goes on to the WHC. title scene. I would have Sheamus eventually take the title from Bryan and successfully defend it against Orton. .

Yep... I would also have him come back and attack Show, have him really dominate him, to put him over and then go after Sheamus and take the title from him, and be the next cerebral - monster heel. Barrett has all the tools to be the most dominant champion in the last 5 years.

 

[Punkanomics]

I like a storyline where Bryan retains at 'Mania,then he goes into a fued with Otron,let Bryan anger Orton enough to where at SummerSlam its a no DQ match. Then,when Orton is about to close on a victory let Barret come out and cost him the match. Only to attack Bryan the next week on Smackdown. Then set up a Triple Threat Match at the next PPV,let Barret win and boom! Theres his long awaited push!