How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One)

Wade Barrett had pretty much everything WWE would want in a top guy. He was tall, he could talk, he had charisma and has such a presence in the ring. With all of that going for him and a rocket push to the moon as soon as he arrived on the main roster, you’d think that this man was destined to become a future world champion. Even after the dismal end of his Nexus group, you’d think he would still be pushed as a top guy even despite the setback. However, it was never meant to be for Wade Barrett. Us Brits would have to wait a little bit longer before we had a UK-born WWE Champion. It happened eventually, but it took a bit of time…

However, was it all bad luck when it came to the man once known as Bad News Barrett? Could we have improved the booking of this man to make him a permanent main-eventer? Well I’m going to give it a go and see if I can give some good news for Wade Barrett fans out there. Here’s How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE.

Unlike my Rusev “How I Would Book”, we won’t be covering all of Wade Barrett’s WWE run. We will not be covering how he should have been booked as part of the Nexus. The Nexus storyline is more suitable for its own “How I Would Book” and covering it would take the focus away from Wade Barrett specifically.

This series is just to tweak his in-ring career in a way that it’s more memorable and remarkable than it ended up being. Sure, WWE 2K23 considers Wade Barrett to be a legend. However, there was also a lot of untapped potential with the charisma and the skills of Barrett. After the introduction he had within WWE as the leader of Nexus, most of his in-ring career was spent DEEP in the mid-card with very little chances to be pushed into the “upper-midcard” spots at least. It really was a struggle for Barrett and his last year in WWE ended with a whimper.

We’re going to try and rectify that. However, let’s jump into his career and see what needs to be improved and where things went wrong:

Wade Barrett won Season 1 of NXT in 2010, with Chris Jericho as his pro, to earn a WWE contract and title opportunity. His first appearance after winning NXT was on Monday Night RAW, which saw the reveal of the Nexus stable. He led a group of the other NXT rookies and destroyed wrestlers, commentators, the set and everything in sight. They continued with group beat-downs of legends, wrestlers and even Mr McMahon and this somehow led to Wade Barrett getting fired, rehired and then getting contracts for the rest of the group.

The Nexus faced Team WWE at SummerSlam where Wade Barrett ended up being the final man eliminated by John Cena. Wade got multiple title opportunities after SummerSlam, but was unable to win the WWE Championship despite having the help of a forced-member of Nexus in John Cena. After Barrett fired John Cena (because he had the power to fire John Cena if Cena didn’t do what he was told to do), Cena ambushed all the members of Nexus which forced Barrett to rehire Cena. Cena beat him at TLC in a tables match and Barrett was subsequently kicked out of the Nexus group by new leader CM Punk.

Barrett moved to SmackDown! and created the Corre, which included himself, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Ezekiel Jackson. They were pretty much the SmackDown! version of Nexus, although Barrett insisted they were four equals. The Corre ended up destroyed in about four minutes at WrestleMania 27 and then disbanding a few months later. Wade Barrett did win the Intercontinental Championship during his time in the Corre and continued to compete in the mid-card of SmackDown! for the rest of 2011. His stock rose when he feuded with Randy Orton, where he was able to pick up wins over him and threw Orton down the steps to write him off of television.

Unfortunately, Barrett gained an injury in early 2012 which somewhat halted his momentum.

He returned later in the year with a new bareknuckle boxer gimmick. The gimmick was OK but it lacked the killer instinct of his Nexus run and even his feud with Orton. He would get more Intercontinental Championship reigns under his belt and a whole bunch of different theme songs but struggled to get elevated into a prominent position again. His most prominent role in 2013 was as part of the WWE’s “The JBL and Cole Show” on YouTube where he was a reoccurring character who gave people bad news.

This was transitioned onto the main roster, where Barrett would get a ridiculously high podium and would give people bad news. The highlight of this was when he buried a Miz vs. Brodus Clay match on SmackDown!, providing commentary as the two proceeded to have a horrible match!

Barrett was getting over with this and returned to ring after WrestleMania 30, defeating Rey Mysterio clean on RAW. He would be entered in an Intercontinental Championship tournament to determine the number one contender, which he won. He would defeat Big E to win the championship but unfortunately, was struck down with another injury which caused him to vacate the title.

In 2015, Barrett had won the King of the Ring tournament which pretty much spelled the beginning of the end of his career. He feuded with R-Truth in a battle of who was the true King… I kid you not. Barrett was then put in the League of Nations but had injury issues yet again and was pretty much relegated to the fourth wheel of that group. After WrestleMania 32, the League of Nations kicked him out of the group and that was the last we saw of Wade Barrett.

For all of the bad news Barrett was giving during his WWE career, Barrett was the one with probably some of the worst luck in WWE history. Multiple injuries stifled the career of this man at times where his stock within the company was rising. He was on his way to becoming an established heel main-eventer on SmackDown! until his injury at the start of 2012. He was getting over with Bad News Barrett and a legitimate Intercontinental Championship reign until his injury where he had to vacate the title. Even with the League of Nations, it was an opportunity for him to work with the WWE Champion at the time. However, he ended up injured early on into that stable’s run as well.

That combined with some horrible booking decisions honestly made it seem like this guy could not get a break. At least Wade does have a second chance within WWE at the moment as a commentator on SmackDown! However, who knows where his career might have ended up with a little bit more luck and a few more positive booking decisions.

That’s our goal with this “How I Would Book…”. The same rules applies as they did with the Rusev “How I Would Book…”. If an injury or substantial absence from WWE happens, we have to work with it and consider it as part of our own fantasy booking. As I always say, it’s unfair to hold WWE accountable for booking if we don’t do it ourselves.

We’ll be starting off from after Wade Barrett was kicked out of the Nexus by CM Punk at the end of 2010. We could spend all day talking about the booking of the Nexus and it could have elevated Barrett to a far better position if that storyline was booked correctly. However, this series is just about Wade and how they handle the Englishman right after he leaves the group he created.

Let’s get to it…

In this fantasy scenario, The Corre will not be happening. Wade Barrett does not go to SmackDown! and create a blue brand alternative to Nexus. He instead stays on RAW and fleshes out his singles career. I’m not totally against the idea of The Corre, given that each member was supposed to be “equal” which can create conflict. In fact, The Judgement Day in WWE have a similar layout where it’s not always clear who the leader is. Some weeks, Finn Balor is showcased as the leader. Some weeks, it’s Damien Priest. Some weeks, it’s “Mami” herself Rhea Ripley. That sort of concept where there’s no specific leader can be very effective.

However, the group itself was just not interesting enough to pull off this concept. You had the leader of Nexus already in the group and neither Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel nor Ezekiel Jackson could be charismatic or imposing enough to be considered an equal member to Wade. Barrett was the talker and had main-event experience… so fit more into a natural leader role. Therefore, for this re-write, I’m just cutting out the need for the group and just focusing on Barrett.

It also felt weird that Barrett went over the SmackDown! without really getting his revenge on CM Punk for kicking him out of the Nexus stable. I mean sure, the Nexus and the Corre had a fight in the Royal Rumble match. However, delivering no proper retaliation just made Barrett and his group look so secondary compared to the second version of the Nexus. We’re going to fix that too…

Wade Barrett starts his singles career on RAW and is immediately considered an outcast by the RAW roster. He lead the Nexus stable and would still have been leading the Nexus if it weren’t for Punk ousting him from the group. He is shown being shunned from the locker room as he walks around and is truly alone on the main roster for the first time in his WWE career. He is put into a match with a big dude, let’s say Mark Henry, and is going to be beaten from pillar to pillar and has no Nexus to back him up this time. When backed into a corner, he pulls something out of his trunks and punches Henry in the face. Henry is knocked out and Barrett covers Henry for the win.

When Barrett goes to the back, he’s approached by William Regal who asks to see what was in his hand. Barrett tells him to piss off until Regal reveals brass knuckles of his own. He tells Wade that if he’s going to be naughty, he needs to do it right. Regal places it on a chair and Barrett looks down on the brass knuckles and contemplates using them.

The next week, he’s up against Vladimir Kozlov. Again, Barrett is up against the ropes and again, punches out Kozlov and gets the win. The mystery is whether Barrett accepted Regal’s help or not. Regal approached him in the back, and Barrett reveals that Regal’s brass knuckles is still in his locker. Barrett never used them and instead used his own. Barrett said that he’s on his own now and he’s going to do things his own way.

Barrett starts a winning streak without Regal and declares himself for the Royal Rumble match. Regal tells Barrett that he respects his decision but, in a 40 man Royal Rumble match, he’s going to need allies. Barrett refutes this but says we’ll see what happens in the Rumble.

So the first half of the Royal Rumble is very similar to how it is in real life. CM Punk is #1 and his New Nexus helps him make it all the way to half-way through the Rumble match. At #21, this entrant is revealed to be Wade Barrett. He’s at a 3 on 1 disadvantage or so against the Nexus. However, this is a new Wade Barrett and he proves it. He runs wild on the members of Nexus. He eliminates Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris and it comes down to Wade Barrett and CM Punk in the ring. It’s Wade Barrett and the man that kicked him out of Nexus.

#22 comes out and it’s John Cena. Punk was feuding with Cena at the time and Cena terrorised the Nexus previously while Barrett was in charge. Two people that have done Barrett dirty recently are here in the ring. Punk pleads with Barrett to work together against Cena. Cena runs wild on both of them for a bit. Cena tries an Attitude Adjustment on Punk to the outside, but Punk latches onto the rope to save himself. Barrett lays out Cena and sees Punk on the rope. Punk reaches out his hand and asks Barrett to help him but instead of helping, Barrett hits Punk with the bullhammer elbow and eliminates him. Not only is it a callback to when Punk kicked out Barrett from Nexus, it’s also the debut of the bullhammer elbow so Barrett can show Punk that he doesn’t need the Nexus anymore. Having been on his own, he now challenges Cena to fight one-on-one until the next wrestler comes out…

Later on in the Royal Rumble, it comes down to the final six or so. Barrett is in there among with Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, John Cena, Santino Marella and William Regal. Regal proposes an alliance between himself and Wade but Wade turns on Regal. Barrett says he’s going to do it on his own but then gets eliminated by John Cena. The rest of the Royal Rumble more or less plays out like it did in real life. Alberto Del Rio wins, Santino almost wins and The Miz eliminates John Cena.

NOTE: I did consider having Wade winning the Royal Rumble match itself but I’d rather flesh out his singles persona first before rushing him into the world title picture.

CM Punk sets the New Nexus on Wade, with the group being unsure about going up against their old boss. Wrestlers like Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater start to leave the group as Barrett makes his way through each of the members of Nexus. At the Elimination Chamber, Punk is able to eliminate Barrett from the match after he hits Barrett with brass knuckles in his hands. That makes Barrett believe that Regal had sided with CM Punk and is working with him against Wade.

This is teased for the next month or so which upsets the members of New Nexus, as they believe that Punk may be bringing in new members. One by one, the members continue to walk out on Punk until it’s Punk vs. Barrett one-on-one at WrestleMania 27. During the match, Barrett is beating Punk up and Punk is backed into a corner. He reaches out for brass knuckles that aren’t there. William Regal comes down and offers Punk’s the brass knuckles that he offered Wade many months before. Barrett grabs the referee and Regal puts the brass knucks in his own hands and punches out CM Punk, knocking him out. Barrett smiles as he covers Punk and wins the day. Regal enters the ring and gives the knuckles to Wade Barrett as Barrett finally sees the value in having an ally.

That’s where we’ll leave things with Part One. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think this was going to be such a big storyline for the few months before WrestleMania 27. However, I think I’ve pretty much set the table for Barrett being a huge singles star and I’ve put together a huge revenge storyline which makes Barrett look like a massive star.

I also don’t think this would impact Punk. After all, the Summer of Punk was only a couple of months after this and the rest… is history.

Join us for Part Two, where we’ll see where this new alliance between himself and William Regal takes him.

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

Weekly Wrestling Round-Up: The Fandango Revolution, Dolph Ziggler Cashes In, Bully Ray Retains

Evening Wrestling fans, I’m the “Show-Off” Thomas Robinson and I’m here to show of my GIANT BEAST…..

…of a blog.

Yes, an eventful week of wrestling, which I’m going to sum up in one blog, as it’s difficult for me to do 2 separate blogs for RAW and Impact Wrestling on top of uni work and other things. So, for the foreseeable future, I am going to start blogging about RAW and TNA on the same blog at the end of the week or something. And I’m also going to add SmackDown! to the picture if it’s any good and if I can be bothered. So let’s get to it…

RAW

What a RAW it was this week. Largely due to the awesomeness of the fans in New Jersey. I always say that the fans can make a show, and this is certainly the case here. This was one of the best crowds I have ever heard, and that is NOT an exaggeration. They weren’t shitting on matches all night, they were having fun instead. Like in the Sheamus vs Randy Orton match, rather than doing chants like “Same old shit” and “Boring” they were just having fun and chanting random wrestlers’ names. JBL, HBK, RVD, Randy Savage, Jerry Lawler, even Michael Cole and Mike Chioda got chants. ECW chants were at large too! They did a wave during the match! There were “Thank You Big Show” and “Cotton Candy” chants when The Big Show interfered in their match. It wasn’t that great of a match, but it’ll always live long in the memory because of the fans.

There were all sorts of chants that night, and obviously the part that stood out the most was when the fans started humming Fandango’s theme, thus starting the Fandango Revolution! The fans humming his theme was made a lot funnier when Michael Cole pointed it out, and JBL and Lawler caught on. XD Absolutely hilarious. And to be honest, I’m not that big of a Fandango fan, but if this gets him incredibly over in time, then I’ll have to change my tune about him! His theme got to 13th in the UK iTunes charts which I think is absolutely incredible.

But the show wasn’t great, JUST because of the fans. There were a lot of moments that made this show awesome. Wade Barrett regained the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz in a better and longer match they put on at Wrestlemania. I loved the “Wade Barrett’s Barmy Army” chant during the match. But why did Wade Barrett lose the belt at Mania in the first place if he was just going to win it back the next night? Seems like a strange move to me.

Undertaker’s promo on RAW was interrupted by The Shield, who looked like they were about to pounce, until Team-Hell No made the save, which could suggest a 6 man tag at Extreme Rules. I loved how Daniel Bryan joined Undertaker and Kane in the Brothers of Destruction pose on the top of the ramp. He’s the only man beside Taker or Kane to do it, and it just shows how far he’s come. I mean he did lose to Big E Langston on Raw that night, but still you get my point.

Dolph Ziggler FINALLY cashed in Money In The Bank and became the World Heavyweight Champion! He defeated Alberto Del Rio to win the World Title! While I’m glad he’s champion, I’m not happy with the timing. I personally think he should have ran down the clock, and waited until Money In The Bank 2013 to cash it in. But, what’s done is done, and Ziggler was definitely one of the highlights of the show on RAW.

Lastly, WWE Champion John Cena’s Wrestlemania Victory speech was interrupted by “Mr That’s What I Do” Mark Henry, who demanded a shot at the WWE Title. However, SmackDown! GM Booker T (who apparently has the say on Raw too) told him he had to earn his shot and booked him in a non-title match with Cena. We also got the fans singing Mark Henry’s theme song when he came out! The match ended in a count out, which then saw Henry attack Cena. But then IN COMES THE CALVARY! Ryback attacks Henry, and gets him out the ring. He then helps Cena up and begins the “Feed Me More” chants before clobbering Cena with a clothesline to the delight of the New Jersey fans! He then hit the Shell-Shocked on Cena, and held the WWE Championship high! I personally don’t think that this is a heel turn though. I think he’s just sending a message to Cena. And, it appears they will be doing John Cena vs Ryback at Extreme Rules! However, what saddens me about that is if John Cena beats Ryback, that’ll be SEVEN pay-per-view defeats in a row. How can Ryback be considered a big player in WWE with all these losses?

TNA Impact Wrestling

Another live edition of TNA, and I do prefer the live editions to the tapped editions. However, this crowd was rather disappointing to be frank. Especially after the crowds of the last couple of months on Impact, and the Raw Crowd on Monday too. But, it was still a rather interesting show of Impact. Just a couple of points to talk about…

To be honest, the 2 out of 3 falls match between the team of Bobby Roode and Austin Aires, and the team of Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez was kind of a let down too. I love how they had Aires and Roode ambush Chavo and Hernandez from behind to get an easy first fall, and then Chavo got a quick 2nd fall afterwards. It was something different, and I always appreciate different. However, I don’t appreciate Roode and Aires dropping the titles. I don’t understand this. TNA had something good going with that team, and they for some reason wanted them to drop the belts? And to all the teams they could have dropped them to, why this team? I’m not a fan of the team of Chavo and Hernandez, and I do hope this was put in place for a cheap pop. Roode and Aires need them titles more than Chavo and Hernandez.

Taryn Terrell defeated Gail Kim in a grudge match between the two knockouts, in a fair match. The inclusion of ODB was a very funny inclusion, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen her, so it’s good to see her again. I think Taryn still needs more work in the ring, but she did look fine in that attire – AND THAT’S A PLUS IN MY BOOKS!

There was another angle involving AJ Styles and James Storm, with James interrupting Hulk Hogan’s conversation with AJ. “Bad Influence” Christopher Daniels and Kazarian came down to the ring, and both of them cut a good promo, asking for AJ to join them rather than the TNA Frontline or Aces And Eights. It’s nice that TNA have brought in a neutrality feel to the war between TNA and Aces And Eights. AJ Styles vs James Storm was booked for next week. Not exactly sure if it’ll actually happen, but if it does than great. I’d love to see them get it on next week.

And finally, Bully Ray retained the TNA World Title in Full Metal May-HEEEEEEEEEEEEEMM! It was an OK match. In comparison with Bully and Jeff Hardy’s previous TLC matches, it was shit, but as a match in general it was OK. There were cool spots, with Jeff doing the Swanton from the turnbuckle onto the outside which was rather cool. Bully won by hitting Jeff in the head with hammer, that sent him crashing through the table. Bully has won this chapter of the battle with TNA, but next week should have some new developments. I think it’s safe to say Bully is done with Jeff.

SmackDown!

A couple of quick notes. Firstly, Ziggler getting interrupted 3 times in the same promo was funny too see. Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio came out to declare their interest in the World Title, before Chris Jericho came out and ripped on Ziggler and AJ, calling the latter crazy, which made her go crazy. Jericho vs Ziggler was made for the main event, with Fandango at ringside. Alright match, followed by Fandango beating down Jericho. I think WWE edited the crowd an awful lot here. From what I heard in the tapings, the Fandango theme sing-song was quite load at the SmackDown! taping. Hmmm.

And secondly, a Triple H promo was interrupted by the 3MB, who was about to jump Triple H in typical stable style. That was interrupted by The Shield, who took out 3MB, and went after Triple H themselves. HHH was saved by Team Hell-No. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with Team Hell-No and The Shield for Extreme Rules. Will they just do a tag match, or will they do a 6 man tag with Undertaker involved? I’d like to see the later, if Undertaker is OK to do it. But a Shield “free-bird” run as champions would be cool with more. Or Reigns and Rollins could hold the tag titles, and Dean Ambrose could go for the main title. One of them two scenarios is OK with me. Either way, I think Team Hell-No’s days as Tag Champs are coming to an end.

And that’s it for me. The Big Three Shows of the week, covered in one MEGA-BLOG for you all. This is Tom Robinson, and I’m going to leave with this…..

Du-du! Du-du-du-du! Du-du-du-du-du!

#ThemeOfTheWeek XD

Undertaker returns on the 2/23/13 WWE House Show – Thoughts And Reactions

UNDERTAKER: He’s Back!

Yes, The Undertaker is BACK! Last night at a house show in Texas, The Phenom made his return to team up with Sheamus and face the team of Wade Barrett and Damien Sandow (a kind of odd pairing to say the least since Sandow has already been in a team with Cody Rhodes). I think this was a great way for Undertaker to return.Undertaker needed to shake off any ring-rust. I mean, we haven’t seen him since RAW 1000, and he’s wrestled only 2 matches in 2 years. So a house show appearance is a good way to get him experience, before he goes into Wrestlemania against whomever his opponent is. The video is here below

And I can sense a lot of fans are unhappy with his return going down on a house show, and not on RAW. The internet wrestling community are already bashing his return. Here’s a video posted on NoDQ.com of a fat kid raging about the return below:

OK, this kid needs setting straight right now:

1) If anything, his return happening at a house show makes it a lot more unexpected. A lot of people (including myself) weren’t expecting Taker to show up before Wrestlemania at all, and it’s a nice surprise for the Texas crowd, who went nuts for the Deadman’s return (take a look at the video above for Christ sake).

2) Also, regarding the scenario that the kid thinks is going to happen, with Undertaker getting involved in the John Cena vs CM Punk match. He should not be so sure that Undertaker vs CM Punk is the match they are going to go with at Wrestlemania. I mean backstage reports by internet websites aren’t always right (no offence NoDQ.com). WWE might swerve it and may have Undertaker fight Brock Lesnar, Sheamus or even Randy Orton. Don’t think that the Road To Wrestlemania is THAT predictable (OK, some cases it is, but not always).

3) Vince McMahon is not an idiot. In actuality, he’s actually a genius for holding off Undertaker’s return like this, and keeping the WWE universe in suspense over whether he would return at all. A lot people expected Undertaker to return the night after the Elimination Chamber, but he didn’t. It put us all in doubts over his return. Vince likes to have his fun and troll the internet fans who think they know everything. So, he’s not an idiot.

4) While Live RAW events are important to WWE, so are house shows. If they have guys like Undertaker make surprise appearances at a house show, it can draw people to come to more house shows, because they don’t want to miss out.

5) Yes, CM Punk losing twice to the wrong was wrong. And YES, if it does happen, CM Punk losing to the Undertaker would be disappointing seeing how big a heel he has become. But, this kid is wrong about the fact that CM Punk is getting “buried”. How many superstars as of late get a chance to fight the likes of The Rock and The Undertaker? CM Punk is not getting buried by these guys. CM Punk is being rewarded with these big-time matches, and it is establishing Punk as a MAJOR star in WWE. He’s not just a main-eventer – he’s one of the REAL superstars in WWE, that is becoming social-relevant and is colliding with the major superstars like Taker and Rock, and Brock Lesnar later on in the year.

I think Undertaker returning at a house show is NOT a bad thing, and if anything, him showing up at a house show will get people tuning into RAW and seeing him again. I will be watching RAW on Monday, and I AM looking forward to The Undertaker’s return. Great move WWE.