10 Most Absurdly Mismatched Gimmicks In WWE
6. Wade Barrett Was Not The King Of The Ring
By 2015 the King Of The Ring concept had been significantly devalued from its heyday, when it was an annual tournament with its own pay-per-view, booked to crown the Next Big Thing.
The 2006 tournament was SmackDown only. The 2008 and 2010 versions were held on a single episode of RAW - in 2010, this included the qualifying matches, and that was before the show went to three hours. 2015’s version? A Network-only show with three short TV-style matches.
But even as an entertainment angle, shorn of the prestige that made it a kingmaking gimmick, the King Of The Ring had still been a role handed to important men. The last three winners - Booker T, William Regal, and Sheamus - were all highly regarded uppercard players.
And then there was Wade ‘Bad News’ Barrett: a hugely talented contender with a massive upside in 2010 whose star had fallen since. In 2015 Barrett pretty much defined the word ‘undercard’. He was a man defeated so often and so quickly that he had people wondering whether he’d run over the McMahon family dog.
The inexplicable coronation of King Barrett was the end of the line of succession for the King Of The Ring - as a tournament, as a title, and as a booking concept.