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B-b-b-b-BOOM!

"I am sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid I have some BAD NEEEWS..."

Stuart Alexander Bennett (born August 10, 1980 in Preston, England) is an English bare knuckle boxer turned professional wrestler who debuted for NWA UK Hammerlock Wrestling in 2004 as Stu Sanders. He went on to work for Dropkixx Wrestling, Real Quality Wrestling and All Star Wrestling events, as well as the Welsh promotion creatively called Welsh Wrestling. He would win the Dropkixx IWC Heavyweight Championship as he moved through the UK scene.

In 2006, he got a developmental deal with WWE, who repackaged him as Lawrence Knight, although later it was changed to Wade Barrett. He is best known as the winner of the inaugural season of NXT, and, more importantly, as the original leader of what was shaping up to be one of pro wrestling's iconic Power Stables, The Nexus (until that didn't exactly work out). Afterwards Barrett formed The Corre with former Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel in January 2011 and won his first Intercontinental Championship, a title that he won five times overall.

He began appearing on WWE programming as Bad News Barrett in late 2013, a figure standing at a podium who serves to inform the wrestlers and/or the audience of whatever poor fortune they're about to experience, until he became the King of the Ring winner in 2015 and changed his ring name to King Barrett. He left WWE in May 2016 and didn't make another wrestling appearance until WCPW's No Regrets PPV just under a year later, where he was a guest commentator alongside Matt Striker and Dave Bradshaw. In October 2017, he was named the General Manager of the promotion, now renamed Defiant Wrestling. He held the position until April 2018, when he relinquished it to the retiring Jay Melrose.

In November 2018, he was revealed to have joined Lucha Underground as the Unknown Benefactor. In December 2019, he was named as color commentator for NWA Powerrr, replacing the departing Jim Cornette. In September 2020 he returned to WWE as a commentator for NXT before moving to SmackDown in October 2022.


Can these tropes have a bit of decorum, please?:

  • Aborted Arc: His feud with Bo Dallas. Dallas eliminated him in the Royal Rumble, beat him on Raw the following night, they had a couple of confrontations backstage, and then his character disappears into development(al) hell. Barrett didn't get his win back until April 24, 2013 on NXT, which was unwatchable at the time if you don't have a Hulu+ subscription.
  • Always Someone Better: In Lucha Underground, he was implied to be this to MATANZA by Councilman Delgado. Which, if true, was scary as hell.
  • Arch-Enemy: At first, the WWE management due to how they were treated during NXT, then John Cena and Randy Orton. Kofi Kingston, of whom he managed to get the IC title from twice. Bo Dallas looked to be, but that appears to have been dropped in favor of The Miz.
  • Artistic License – Martial Arts: At his return in 2012, Barrett was introduced in vignettes showing him exercising his bare-knuckle boxing skills in fight clubs. However, his new finisher wasn't a punch, but an elbow strike. Surprised?
  • Audience Surrogate: He was supposed to be a heel as Bad News Barrett but got a lot of support from the crowd when he predicted The Miz vs Brodus Clay to be "the worst match of all time" and told Brodus to go back to his dancing gimmick because he was boring without it.
  • Badass Cape: After he became King of the Ring he started wearing one to the ring. Eventually he ditched it.
  • Badass Longcoat: He wore one around his shoulders to the ring for a while. Doubled as No Shirt, Long Jacket.
  • Beard of Evil: Sported one when he returned from injury. Until Daniel Bryan got a hold of it on August 5, 2013. Vince McMahon was pressuring Bryan to shave that beard and bringing down Barrett to be the barber. Well, Bryan suckered Barrett by luring him into a headbutt, throwing him in the barber's chair, and shaving off a good chunk of his beard. He grew it back though.
  • Bearer of Bad News: As Bad News Barrett, Played for Laughs with a healthy heaping of Troll and Deadpan Snarker.
  • Big Bad: Subverted for the Nexus, see Disc-One Final Boss. Played straight with the Unknown Benefactor in LU.
  • Boring, but Practical: His new finisher is essentially an elbow to the face, which, of course, in Real Life, can legitimately knock someone unconscious. And the shortened version (without the wrist lock transition) can be hit suddenly and used as a counterattack, resulting in some Didn't See That Coming ends to his matches.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Sorta. In 2013 he started calling himself Bad News Barrett, then started calling himself King Barrett after winning the 2015 King of the Ring, and towards the end of his career started wearing a t-shirt that said, "King of Bad News".
  • Break the Haughty:
    • Once he got carried away in wanting the WWE Championship and torturing Cena to get it, to the point of making the Nexus become all about him and forgetting all the aspects that made the group synonymous with its theme song, he ended up gradually but certainly losing the Nexus - to the point he found himself reaching to CM Punk for help in keeping them. CM Punk, by the way, who showed a clear intention to replace him. Naturally this didn't end well for Mr. Barrett.
    • He seemed to have learned his lesson, however, as he ushered in the Corre, but claims he's not even taking a leadership position in that group. But then came the #1 contender battle royal on April 15th. He was the first Corre member to declare that the others would be helping him win that night, and just went on to become more monolithic to the point of alienating Jackson, who he had violently expelled rather than let walk away, then Slater and Gabriel as well. The latter two ended the Corre then and there.
  • Brutal Honesty: As Bad News Barrett. He would pop up at the end of the JBL and Cole Show, telling someone something rather obvious. For example he first tells Hornswoggle that the shows ending and that he doesn't have any more airtime.
  • Bullying a Bunch of Dragons: Say this about Barrett - he has no issue whatsoever going after the biggest dogs in the yard. In the year or two since he's been in WWE, his main targets have been as follows: John Cena, The Big Show, Ezekiel Jackson (Capable of suplexing 400-pound men without too much difficulty), Sheamus, and Randy Orton.
  • Butt-Monkey: For someone that's billed mostly as a no-nonsense brawler, there's been an awful lot of comedy at his expense — not the least of which has been having his Intercontinental Championship title belt stolen, initially by Dean Ambrose, and then having a handful of guys literally playing keep-away with his belt... and if that weren't enough, he's going to be forced to defend that title belt which he no longer physically has, in a ladder match at WrestleMania against two Cloudcuckoolanders in R-Truth and Ambrose, a dangerous physical masher in Luke Harper, and two insanely popular face technicians in Dolph Ziggler (who's won the IC Title himself four times) and the guy that won WWE's top title at last year's event, Daniel Bryan. And that may not be the whole field.
  • Calling Your Attacks: During his stint as NXT commentator, he would always call out the name of Bronson Reed's finisher the "TSU...NAMI!"
  • Catchphrase: "Can I have some decorum, please." "I'm afraid I've got some Bad News."
  • Characterization Marches On: When he first appeared he was a cynical, greedy, charismatic British thug, now he's become a scheming, manipulative, brutal war leader.
    • Inverted during a 7/29/11 promo on Smackdown where he said that he had come to the United States to make a lot of money, but had gotten sidetracked in the past 12 months. He announced that we were going to see a return of basics for Wade Barret, stating that greed is terribly underrated.
  • Cigar Chomper: In Lucha Underground, the very first thing seen of him were his gloved hands lighting a cigar.
  • Coat Cape: Which he throws off when it is time to wrestle. Eventually upgraded to an actual cape.
  • Compressed Hair: Every now and then during a match, his gelled-back hair gets disheveled, and you get to see just how voluminous and curly it actually is.
  • Conspicuous Gloves: In all his appearances prior to Season 4 of Lucha Underground, both his hands were gloved.
  • Continuity Nod: One of his signature moves is a spinning side slam called "The Winds of Change" - in reference to a Catchphrase he used as the leader of The Nexus.
    "The winds of change are blowing."
  • Curse: There seems to be one on him as it relates to the Money in the Bank PPV, as he tends to come up with injuries right before he's scheduled to participate in one.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Especially in his 'Bad News Barrett' segments.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: He managed to get several members of the IPW roster (Aussie Open and Mark Haskins) as Defiant regulars after winning back control at Defiant Chain Reaction.
    "Gentleman, there's no need to bicker! The situation is very, very simple! Defiant Wrestling won, and you guys lost! Alright, here's the deal. I don't like any of you five, I don't like the way you five have conducted business here in Defiant Wrestling, but I am indeed a businessman myself, and I recognize that all five of you have talent. And there's one thing a GM can't get enough of, and that is talent, so I'm gonna be the bigger man here, and I'm gonna offer all five of you contracts here at Defiant Wrestling. Gentleman, welcome to the roster!"
  • Demoted to Extra: The man went from being a major threat with The Nexus on Raw and The Corre on Smackdown, to having a brief feud with Daniel Bryan, to not appear on television much at all. Then after appearing somewhat frequently on television as a midcarder, he vanished for no explicable reason before reappearing under the name Bad News Barrett & going months without a match as he spent most of his TV time giving people telling the crowds why they sucked.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: He was the original Big Bad of the Nexus... until CM Punk hijacked the leadership of his stable while he was out after the Chairs match he had with Cena, then promptly kicked him out, leading him to set up the Corre on Smackdown.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Stu Bennett appeared in Defiant Wrestling as far as WCPW No Regrets as part of the commentating team, before being introduced after the name change as its GM.
  • Epic Fail: In a match with Randy Orton, he set up Orton against the ring post for his Bull Hammer elbow smash. Guess where that one went...
  • Establishing Character Moment: Maybe more of a 're'-establishing character moment, but the promo where he talked about getting "back to basics" and stated that "greed is terribly underrated" definitely counts.
  • Evil Brit: In a subversion though, he claims that most people are truly evil and despises society for trying to be otherwise, even himself during the periods he tried to be otherwise.
  • Eviler than Thou: Ultimately on the receiving end of this by CM Punk, who proved himself to be far more ruthless than Barrett was by usurping control of the Nexus from him. Considering Punk is a three-time world champion who managed to do to Jeff Hardy what Barrett was trying to do to John Cena in a much shorter timeframe and almost entirely on his own, it's not really surprising — Barrett never stood a chance against that level of experience.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Against CM Punk for control of the Nexus and the against CM Punk's new Nexus after forming the Corre.
  • Expy: His English background, powerfully built body, natural villainous charisma, and 'gentleman brawler' persona make him a near-dead ringer for a young William Regal.
  • Finishing Move: The Wasteland, a modified rolling fireman's carry. He briefly went with a spinning side slam called the Winds of Change. Upon his return from injury, his finisher's an arm wrench transitioned into a forearm smash to the face called the Bull Hammer.
  • Gag Nose: His time as a bare-knuckle boxer left his nose pretty busted up, and now it almost points sideways. Doesn't slow his fangirls down in the slightest, though.
  • Game-Breaking Injury: In February of 2012 he partially dislocated his elbow, and was out for several months, then in June of 2014 he separated his shoulder, and due to him having to be out for several months due to surgery, he had to vacate his IC title.
  • Genius Bruiser: Has a degree in Marine Biology and spent his youth as a bare knuckle boxer.
  • Genre Savvy: In his NXT introduction video he basically gives a detailed description on the giant trope and explains why it will always be successful. Kevin Nash argues that Wade Barret is too small to be a giant though.
  • Glass Cannon: Big. Hits hard. Seems to come up injured on a regular basis.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Heath Slater claimed Wade was an obvious thug because of his scar and broken nose, which is a little harsh considering that nose came from just earning a living boxing and that scare came from someone attempting to mug him of that living wage.
  • Greed/Only in It for the Money: Has always been the central component of his character, going all the way back to his developmental days.
    "Greed is terribly underrated."
  • Groin Attack: Went through a pretty rough series of them on the 3-25-13 Raw. After being dim enough to interrupt Triple H's exit, Trips fairly non-nonchalantly kicked him as hard as he could right in the plums (Wade's choice of words.) Next, he had to wrestle a match against The Miz, who used this to his advantage, starting the match with an Inverted Atomic Drop. The match finally ended after Wade went for a kick that left him strung out over the top rope, his third Groin Attack of the night.
  • Heel: One of the very few wrestlers who was never seen as a babyface within WWE.
  • High-Class Gloves: In Lucha Underground, he sported black gloves with metallic-looking green parts.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Feels completely justified doing what he did to get himself and the rest of the rookies contracts.
  • Informed Ability: Played with. Anytime one of the announcers mentions his backstory, they'll usually mention that he was a bareknuckle fighter in Britain. But Barrett's wrestling style seems to involve a lot of power moves as opposed to the strikes and punches you think you would see.
    • Now averted. Upon his return, he's become almost exclusively a striker.
  • Insistent Terminology: A possible inversion. He insisted on not being called the leader of The Corre, as it was an alliance of "four equals." Unfortunately, his It's All About Me attitude led to the Corre splitting.
  • It's All About Me: If Wade approaches you about forming a unit and he promises you equal status with him, do not listen. He'll appear to be all for equalism at first, but in truth his biggest flaw is that he just cannot give a flip about anyone but himself. He got kicked out of Nexus and the Corre was disbanded because of it. Details:
    • Seemed at first to genuinely care about the welfare of the other Nexus members, risking his own contract and title shot to secure contracts for them, but this eventually came to only apply if you were loyal to him and lived up to his standards. Darren Young and Michael Tarver were obvious weak links, and were brutally excommunicated for their trouble. David Otunga fancied himself The Starscream and was forced to lay down and surrender the tag titles to Gabriel and Slater. Also, Barrett was prepared to let the other Nexus members all keep falling victim to sneak attacks rather than bring John Cena back…until they made it clear they would desert him for it. Thus began his Humiliation Conga.
    • The same pattern repeated itself with the Corre. He was again the main speaker for the team, but he seemed to have accepted that it wasn't all about him, even going out of his way to declare his fellow Corre members his equals. But then a world heavyweight championship battle royal came into play with all four members as participants, and Barrett fell right back into the same old habit starting from there. You'd think he'd know better, but at this point he just doesn't freaking care. It's lampshaded in the new theme he started using afterwards, too.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He's achieved all of his initial objectives, now he's just in it for the money and the power.
  • The Kid with the Remote Control: Between Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series in 2010, John Cena had to obey Wade's orders to remain employed. This seemed at first like heaven for Barrett, Nexus, and smarks worldwide alike. But then it worked out terribly.
  • Large Ham: I'M AFRAID I'VE GOT SOME BAD NEWWWWS!
  • Locked in a Room: In Defiant #3 he was trapped in his own office while the IPW invaders wreak havoc into the stage and put Jimmy Havoc, Primate, BT Gunn and Joe Coffey to rest. This was Stu's latest appearance as of Defiant #9.
  • Make Way for the New Villains: One of the Nexus first victims was CM Punk's Straight Edge Society. Of course, Punk got the last laugh by taking over the Nexus and throwing Barret out.
  • Meddling John Cena: Why he didn't become the WWE Champion during the Nexus story arc.
  • My Greatest Failure: Hiring Austin Aries turned out to be the fall of Defiant Wrestling.
  • Noble Demon: As leader of the Nexus, who was basically tearing up and beating people down because he could not do it to the WWE management directly. He even apologized for attacking John Cena and Bret Hart. Later when he was in the Corre he claimed they were only attacking powerful people like The Big Show because they respected them and would not be attacking weaklings.
  • Non-Action Guy: Had this role in the League of Nations stable, due to him recovering from an injury. Out of Sheamus, Rusev, Del Rio, and King Barrett, Barrett was the only one who was not involved in a feud with another Superstar at TLC, to the point of being completely absent from TLC when the League of Nations interfered in the championship match between Roman Reigns and Sheamus. During tag matches he was involved in, he didn't get tagged in at all and the rest of the stable did all the fighting. He does, however, support the team by distracting the referee or whoever the League is fighting, often leading to a devastating move shortly after.
  • Passing the Torch: His last act as Defiant Wrestling GM before leaving the promotion was to transfer his GM role to "the artist formerly known as Primate".
  • Pec Flex: He does it in the Season 1 finale of NXT. Shown here.
  • Power Makes Your Voice Deep: Fittingly for a being claimed to be the most powerful in the world, his voice in Lucha Underground was very deep and kinda creepy.
  • Power Stable:
    • The Nexus and its Smackdown counterpart The Corre.
    • The League of Nations, alongside Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Rusev.
    • In FCW, the Saxton Conglomerate, with Byron Saxton, Tyson Tarver, Black Pain, Lawrence Knight and Kaleb O'Neal.
  • Put on a Bus: He was out for seven months after suffering a partially dislocated elbow in February of 2012. This really killed his momentum and a potential push, since it was rumored at the time that the Money in the Bank ladder match was to move back to WrestleMania and had Barrett slated as the winner. His injury caused the match to be scrapped and was eventually replaced by the GM vs. GM match between John Laurinaitis and Teddy Long. Barrett hasn't been able to regain his lost momentum since.
  • Rage Breaking Point: At WCPW No Regrets, during the 30-man battle royale, he got so fed up with Zack Gibson's cockiness that after he was eliminated, he pulled out his commentator gear and bullhammered him.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: In real life. His gimmick as a former bareknuckle fighter is entirely true. He is also known to like cats and the Spice Girls.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: During his stint as the GM of Defiant Wrestling.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: On the NXT Season finale, he and David Otunga had 60 seconds to deliver one of these speeches to the other. Otunga would spend that time making fun of Wade's appearance, specifically his lanky body and crooked nose. Wade would deliver an epic retort centering on David's inability to wrestle, stating that The Great Khali moves around with more balance and poise than Otunga does. He would then cap off the rant blasting Otunga's "It-Factor" tag line stating that the only reason WWE promoted that is because he had absolutely no tangible qualities whatsoever, and that he could add two more letters in front of it to understand what Wade really thought of Otunga. Thus the friction between the two men during the Nexus run suddenly makes total sense.
  • The Rival: Sheamus O'Shaunessy, all over the Island. Then Stu Sanders got signed by WWE, only to find Sheamus beat him to the active roster.
  • Running Gag: Every year at the time of the Royal Rumble, Barrett tweets that Papa Shango is a returning entrant in the Rumble match.
  • Satisfied Street Rat: His first gimmick on NXT, he was a greedy, bare-knuckle brawler who grew up rough and was damn proud of it. Also a bit of a William Regal Expy.
    • Shades of this character still exist. Particularly his greed. This eventually ended any chance of his successfully leading Nexus or Corre, to which he simply responded that he was getting "back to basics".
  • Serial Escalation: Initially did his Bad New Barrett segments behind a ring-side podium, but now he does them on a decorated scissor-lift 20-feet above the stage.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Gained a huge ego after having a bit part in "Dead Man Down", starring Colin Farrell, even saying he's a bigger star than The Miz, who was the starring in his movie The Marine 3. Granted, Dead Man Down opened in theaters and had a decent opening weekend, while Miz movie was released on DVD/Blue Ray.
  • Smug Snake: With the exception of his leadership roles during the Nexus and the Corre, Wade Barret has never been as threatening or successful as he believes himself to be. This was most apparent when Vince McMahon was sending him after Daniel Bryan.
  • Sore Loser: After being eliminated by Bo Dallas, a WWE NXT rookie who been given an opportunity to take part in the Royal Rumble, he returns to eliminate Dallas, and on top of that, gives him a Bull Hammer.
  • Still the Leader: Said this pretty much verbatim after CM Punk took over The Nexus. Punk would respond to this by costing him a shot at The Miz's WWE championship—and ripping Barrett's Nexus armband off as an exclamation point.
  • Tag Team: The Empire (Stu Sanders and Drew McIntyre) in FCW, also called Brit Pack in OVW.
  • Tall, Dark, and Snarky: From NXT onward, though he initially tried to suck up to Chris Jericho only to be encouraged down this path. The bad news gimmick even comes with a giant podium so he can look even further down on everyone while he makes jokes at their expense.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Two years ago, he was a developmental talent in FCW. Then the NXT Riot happened.
    • Then, after both of his Power Stables split, he was relegated to the mid-card again for a few months. Ever since he started the "Barrett Barrage", though, he's been running roughshod over most of his competition - including tossing Randy Orton off a staircase.
  • Troll: A number of WWE.com videos have revealed he likes being one backstage, usually by hijacking the websites' cameras and bugging his coworkers with silly or inane questions.
    Barrett: Hey Zack Ryder!
    Ryder: Hey, what's the deal, man?
    Barrett: I got a question for you. How does it feel to have the second-most popular WWE web show?
    Ryder: Second? Who's number one?
    Barrett: Wade Wade Wade, you know it!
    • Pretty much the essence of the "Bad News Barrett" gimmick.
  • Turns Red/Limit Break: A literal instance of this trope when he's about to use his Bull Hammer elbow - or, rather, he pulls his elbow pad back and/or turns it inside-out, revealing a bright red elbow pad.
  • Underwear of Power: He seems to be the WWE Superstar who wears those briefs ALL THE TIME. Even during backstage segments. However, he does wear a formal type of clothing whenever he is on the commentary.
  • Unreliable Narrator: About instantly told the world that Daniel Bryan was kicked out of The Nexus for showing remorse. About a year or so later during the two's brief feud on SmackDown, Bryan calls that into question, stating that Barrett kicked him out because he saw him as a threat to his power.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The IPW invasion of Defiant Wrestling would have never happened had Stu never signed Austin Aries, who signed a contract with IPW priorhand. This led to Aries being champion, several IPW wrestlers wreaking havoc, and IPW taking control of Defiant after Mark Haskins pinned resident babyface Martin Kirby at Defiant #6, needing the 5-on-5 "Winner Takes It All" match at Defiant Chain Reaction in order to repel the invasion.
  • Villainous Valor: Perhaps. As opposed to the Dirty Cowards that most heels are portrayed as (even when it doesn't make much sense), Wade doesn't back down from enemies and has gotten the vast majority of his post-Power Stable wins clean. When a guy can go toe-to-toe in a brawl against a pissed-off Randy Orton and take him down, that guy must be credited for some serious Brass Balls.
  • We Used to Be Friends: This comes in a lot when he faces off against a former fellow from The Nexus (or, by extension, the Corre) note  - which seems to happen fairly often. The Three Month Rule is put to rest for a moment as one of the announcers (if not Barrett himself) will reference his and his opponent's time in one of those stables together.
  • Wrestling Doesn't Pay: Downplayed - it's not really part of his gimmick so much, but apparently he's become a barber in his in-universe free time, as evidenced by Cody Rhodes paying him to get rid of Cody's mustache as well as Vince McMahon himself hiring Barrett to (at least attempt to) take care of Daniel Bryan's beard (and the word 'beard' doesn't quite do it justice) in order to give Bryan a more corporate look. (This backfired on Barrett spectacularly, by the way.)
  • Xanatos Gambit: Positioned John Cena as special guest referee in his title match against Randy Orton. If Barrett leaves as champion, Cena's freed from Nexus. If Orton does, Cena is fired.
    • However, Cena Out-Gambitted him. Orton won and Cena was fired, but that merely allowed Cena to assault Nexus on a weekly basis. On top of that, Nexus already turned the security against them and when it looked like Cena was cornered by Barrett's trap, Cena revealed he had an army of RAW superstars who hated Nexus as much as him ready to help him out. Then Cena proceeded to set up a The Dog Bites Back moment by tricking Barrett into pretty much saying he valued his own safety over that of Nexus, causing them to abandon him to Cena and force Barrett to hire Cena back.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain / Cruel Twist Ending: Maybe the most prominent example in WWE history. The company largely seems to be on his side, and he regularly gets himself over, but he incredibly seems to get injured/hindered right as he's about to be elevated
    • While the Nexus and the Corre didn't work out as well as it could have, Barrett came out of it relatively well, and started his 'Barrett Barrage', which included a successful feud with Randy Orton that included him shoving Orton down a flight of stairs. Soon, the Money in the Bank match was set to return to WrestleMania XXVIII and Barrett was slated to win it... Then, the night after Elimination Chamber in what Chris Jericho called the 'Battle Royale of Death' for the number of injuries, Barrett broke his elbow and missed WrestleMania, and the Ladder match was scrapped.
    • Then, upon coming back (with a brand new haircut and beard), he went into a successful run as Intercontinental Champion including great matches with Dolph Ziggler and begins ascending again ... only to dislocate his shoulder and have to drop the title.
    • While recovering, he begins making Troll comments in the form of Bad News, and once recovered, he again begins getting over as Bad News Barrett, with great matches against Big E. Langston and Dolph Ziggler again. But then, his work visa ran out and became very hard to resolve to the WWE's touring schedule. So, he was forced to essentially disappear from WWE, and because it was his work visa, they couldn't set an angle or explanation for his disappearance.
    • After getting his affairs squared away, he comes back to a standing ovation and was still so over that people were talking about having a Heel–Face Turn. Then, with the Money in the Bank 2014 approaching and all the other entrans engaged in feuds, Bad News Barrett was penciled as the winner. But, at the SmackDown before the event, at almost literally the last minute, he had his shoulder dislocated by Jack Swagger, who oddly gave Dolph Ziggler the concussion that stalled his momentum years earlier. He missed the event and the Money in the Bank went to Seth Rollins.
    • Then after again recovering, he came back and won the King of the Ring, and eventually was put into the League of Nations. And in many eyes', he had the best chance of excelling in the group; he didn't have any backstage heat like Rusev (and his girlfriend Lana) and he didn't have any IWC disdain like Sheamus or any IWC disinterest like Alberto Del Rio. However, shortly before the formation, he was having shoulder issues and then it was discovered he had nerve damage in his neck, so during the stable's entire run in which Sheamus was World Heavyweight Champion, he literally couldn't do ANYTHING! Seriously, the man cannot catch a break and with news that he was released in May, he may not get the chance.

"Your entire set of words above have been officially redacted from the WWE Universe. Have a great day!"

Alternative Title(s): Bad News Barrett

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