10 Wrestlers You Can’t Believe WWE Ruined

5. Wade Barrett

alexa bliss bayley
WWE.com

Wade Barrett hits so many McMahon Checklist Points that it's a wonder he isn't a headliner right now.

He's foreign and by extension evil - prime WWE fodder. The company just had to nix Kevin Owens' push because three foreign menaces were apparently too much. Two is fine, but three is ridiculous - even though Owens was the guy who had t-shirts made, he was stripped of his standing as "the new face of America."

Back onto the subject of Barrett. He is also tall. He eventually honed his physique to reach veritable ripped status. He is a fantastic talker and a naturally detestable, cackling heel. His 'Bad News' persona was getting over "incorrectly" - funny how they say it doesn't matter if Roman Reigns gets booed, but Barrett wasn't allowed to get cheered - and was thus dropped in favour of the derivative and passé 'King' bit, which did him no favours. Towards the end of his run, Barrett floundered in the League of Nations - but by then, he stood no chance. Barrett had been stigmatised as a talent devoid entirely of any authenticity - the subject of countless experiments.

It was impossible to determine what a Wade Barrett even was. Six theme tunes in six years hardly helped.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!