Wade Barrett Falling Further And Further Into The Abyss

[Blade]

It's a shame, cause I do like Barrett when he's given something to do. I was really entertained by him during the Nexus angle, and he was never overshadowed by Cena or Orton, like many others would be.

Unfortunately, even if you have all the tools, there's still an element of luck to being successful in the WWE, like Stephanie McMahon hearing Cena rap when he was about to be released. Despite what CM Punk says, luck can be pretty important. And Barrett just seems to have been unlucky. And also badly booked, but mostly the unlucky thing.

 

[newwaveknight]

I don't think the problem is with Barrett so much as it is WWE as a whole. WWE has neglected the midcard so badly that they've created the mindset that midcarder = jobber. So the only way a Superstar can look strong is if they're shoved into the main event or into programs with main event talent. A guy gets pushed to the moon, has a big time feud with a top level guy, and then once that's over, they just flounder around. And once a guy has been in the main event, or competed for a World Title, it looks like a big step down when they're not. That's what's happened to Barrett. WWE just has too many "main eventers" (guys who are supposed to be top contenders in kayfabe) on the roster.

Instead of trying to get people over on all levels of the card, WWE will try to put anyone they're high on into the upper tier, leading to a bloated main event scene and a shitty midcard. And the REAL midcarders end up looking like jobbers because they have to lose a lot just to maintain the pretense that guys like Barrett are still "big deals".

This goes back to what I've said on over 9,000 threads: THE BRANDS SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER!!!!!!

I would say the WWE has about, what, close to 70 Superstars on the roster? Back when the brands were separated, I would say the roster was split in half. So, that would leave about 5-7 main event guys, 7-10 mid-card guys, and the rest as lower card/jobbers. This gave an opportunity for the entire roster to be showcased and your main event guys wouldn't get overexposure.

Now, since the brands recombined, we have the same 5-7 main event guys on both shows, the lower main eventers get pushed down to the mid-card, and you have a LOT of lower-card guys that they aren't sure what to do with. Not to mention, those same 5-7 people are being overexposed since they are on both shows. Doesn't the 'E remember when the same shit happened because of WCW Thunder?

Back to Wade Barrett. Back in a system where we had two separate brands, he could only have to outshine those 7-10 midcard guys on one show and not have to compete with people who are already established main event guys. But now since the Brand re-integration, he's having to outdo a LOT more people.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

I honestly think Barrett is another casualty of a crowded roster coupled with the recent youth movement. I like Barrett's in-ring work well enough but like many people have said he is the definition of "average-to-above-average" at everything but not excellent at anything.

His gimmick is weak and non-interesting compared to some of the other mid-card guys getting some play like Rhodes and Sandow. I will say one thing...look at how well the tag team pairing of Rhodes and Sandow are working out long term. They were viable in the tag division for a month or two and now they a nice little mid-card feud working. Maybe try something similar with Barrett?

Barrett/Cesaro would have been a great team but alas they still give TV time to Jack Swagger

 

[MisterRob]

To the person who claimed Wade Barrett is 36: he's not. He's 32, meaning he's still quite young and even if he retired at 40 then he still has EIGHT years ahead of him in the WWE.

I don't see why people are jumping to all these doomsday opinions on the fall of Wade Barrett like its the end of his career, or he's at some incredible low. In the past year Barrett returned repackaged, he also won the Intercontinental championship on two occassions. They wouldn't be giving him reigns with the title if he was in some dog house, and I don't see him being buried if he's a CHAMPION. Just because he's not in the main event picture at the moment (even though he WAS earlier in the year when he was feuding with Sheamus for the World title).. does not mean he's fallen into obscurity.

Not to mention, Monday he lost to RVD.. which was RVD's second match on RAW after recently returning. He previously defeated Chris Jericho in his return. So I don't think losing to RVD is being jobbed to nobody, the guys just returned and they're building RVD up right now.

Wade Barrett has all of the tools to be successful and a future World champion in the WWE, and he's certainly not being buried right now. The problem, at the moment, is simply that the WWE roster is overcrowded and Barrett is being lost in the shuffle. He's not being forgotten though, he's still in high profile matches and still being used regularly. Eventually he'll have his time again, its the cycle of things, ESPECIALLY when your roster is so full as WWE's is and there's so many they're trying to build up and push right now.

 

[H33LTurn]

RVD isnt Jericho. Jericho could care less how many times he loses and actually volunteers to put people over. RVD, on the other hand, is a savy business man and has always protected the image of his character as much as he could.

That being said, Wade Barrett has been a victim of horrible booking and an ill-timed injury. Barrett should have won the WWE championship during the Nexus angle. He was at the top of his game and would have been the most over heel had they given him the strap. The Corre was a tremendous overkill. The Nexus angle ran long enough and relegating a watered down version to Smackdown didnt do much for his career. The rivalry with Ezekiel Jackson over the IC title seemed like the final nail in his coffin. Fast forward to his rivalry with Orton and it looked like he was about to go over again. Then a bunch of injuries plagued the two making the rivalry irrelevant. His recent run as IC champ was cut short in favor of The Miz, someone else who's stuck in limbo. Its really shame, Wade is talented on the mic, in the ring, and has a legit fighting background. It seems like his time has passed. The new wave of superstars will probably keep him tied down for the foreseeable future.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

It is better for Barrett to take a break again in the sense that he should do what Swagger did and take a sabbatical take a few months off and then when Barrett returns he can be thrust upon into the main event scene but he should return when the fans least expect it and don't hype up his return either with vignettes because then the fans will know that he is coming back but if they don't show vignettes it really builds up the excitement and the surprise when he shows up unexpectedly

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The Fight Club gimmick has been disappointing, cos the only thing it seems to say is "The first rule is you don't talk about Wade Barrett".

We knew from Nexus he has the ability to lead, when the vignettes started airing, I really thought they were going with him as a Tyler Durden type, bringing people into his fold, unleashing the violence within them... actually, someone did get that gimmick and that seems to be his one time "flunkie" Bray Wyatt...

One radical way to get Barrett back into the fold would be to have him feud or even join then split from the Wyatts... Put Barrett into that Ed Norton role, he was kinda the driving force behind the Wyatts, he was the guy who had the ethos but Wyatt became the living embodiment, just not how Barrett had intended... Have Wyatt try to convince Barrett, then send his guys after him, then after he joins have Barrett over time challenge Wyatt... If done badly it'd be Wolfpac/Hollywood but if done right you have a real chance at revitalising Barrett and getting Wyatt over in the process...and one of those "legendary rivalries" that we hear so much about never seeing...

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think Wade Barrett is pretty much exactly where he should be, in the mid card, occasionally holding mid card titles, then heading in reverse again. Truth be told, he simply isn't good enough to be a consistent main eventer, and while he's not what I would call old, he's getting there and as such, is probably not worth the time and investment in trying yet again to turn him into a main eventer.

I can see Barrett in such multi guy matches such as MITB or EC, but I don't see him getting individual main event title opportunities, and I certainly don't see him being successful in one. That's nothing to be ashamed of, by the way. The dude can have a very solid and profitable mid card career in the WWE, without ever being a John Cena or Randy Orton. That's one of the most prevalent IWC misconceptions, that somehow if a guy doesn't resch the main event or hold any major titles, his career is in the toilet and something to be ashamed of. There's plenty of guys who'd love to hold Barrett's position in the company, even if he's never going to be WWE champion.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I think WWE simply doesn't have the expectations they once had for him & they don't plan on giving him a push/World Title reign/etc. like many thought.

While I've always liked Wade Barrett & I do believe he has more to offer, WWE clearly gave Barrett a chance as the leader of The Nexus & he didn't seem to shine like they had hoped. He main evented several PPV's with the likes of John Cena & Randy Orton in 2010 & whether it was the storyline falling apart or his lack of effectiveness as the top villian on RAW, Barrett never seemed to be taken credibly or get much of a reaction.

Barrett obviously didn't impress anyone backstage because after that he had a short lived IC title reign that meant nothing as the leader of The Corre & would fade into Irrelevant Mid-Card Land, in which he wouldn't do anything memorable but feud with Orton again, which was more or less used to push Orton. The ever since his injury he has held the IC title 2 more meaningless times & is lost in Irrelevant Mid-Card Land again.

So while I like Barrett as a performer I think it is pretty clear that WWE could almost care less about him at this point because every oppritunity he is given he seems to do a very average job (at least that's what WWE seemingly believes) & while I can't really blame them all that much, especially with all the great, new talent recently added to the main roster, I do hope WWE does more with Wade Barrett than have him exchange meaningless mid-card title reigns for the rest of his career.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I feel bad for Wade Barrett. He had so much potential and never quite recovered from how much he fell down the card after The Corre split off from the original Nexus group. During his time leading The Nexus he was getting WWE Championship matches despite being a rookie. Then Nexus split into two equally useless factions the New Nexus and The Corre. Barrett's time in The Corre was absolutely pointless. His feud with Orton before he got injured was good and things looked to be improving for him until the injury prevented his rumored Money In the Bank win.

Then he was supposed to return under the fighter gimmick. What did we get out of his return? Horrible new theme music and multiple lackluster Intercontinental Championship wins. WWE have ruined any momentum that Wade Barrett ever had. They had a chance to get him back on track with a Money In the Bank push. Out of anyone in this year's match for the blue briefcase, Barrett needed that win more than anybody. He still has the potential but without something like MITB helping build him back up, I do not see how he will ever get back to where he was during the original Nexus angle. I want to see him succeed and make it to the World Heavyweight Championship but it might never happen as far too much damage has been done.

 

[The Eighties]

I starting to think Barrett is the guy Shawn Michaels was talking about, the one Vince just doesn't see money in. He's a solid promo and a decent worker but nothing really stands out about him to me, although at one point I did think he'd get a WHC run similar to the one Del Rio is currently having, but never as the main angle of a PPV despite his test run as leader of Nexus.

His run as IC champion pretty much mirrored Cesaro's as US champion, both spent more time in non-title matches jobbing to the upper card guys as opposed to being developed as credible champions with potential to step up to the main event.

In the last few weeks he has lost clean to Axel, RVD, Bryan and Christian, now this doesn't mean it's over for Barrett altogether but when you look at the amount of guys on the rise in WWE right now, I'd say he's on the back burner for the foreseeable future.