12. Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett just won his fourth Intercontinental Championship so it may not be as easy to remember just how poorly the legitimately tough Brit has been booked since the dissolution of the original Nexus. First there was The Corre, which took three of the original Nexus members, added in Ezekiel Jackson, and proceeded to flop in epic fashion. Then there were the matches with Jackson that nearly killed any good will Barrett had built with management and fans in his first year with the company. Just when it did not look like it could get much worse for the talented young star, he rebounded thanks to feuds with Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. After the Orton feud, he returned to the middle of the pack, feuding with Miz over an Intercontinental Championship that had become so devalued that it would not have been a shock to hear some Superstars say that they would rather go without it than be saddled with it. Their matches were good but Barrett was stuck in no man's land. An injury and a lack of clear direction eventually led to his disappearance from television. It was during that time that he began appearing on WWE's YouTube production, "The JBL and Cole Show" as a new character called Bad News Barrett. The presentation of the character struck a chord in a way plain, boring Wade Barrett from the Nexus never did. He showed great conviction in his promos and seemed to have a great deal of fun delivering bad news. Eventually, the character was debuted on television and, while it took a few weeks to catch on with the audience at large, it became a huge hit. Barrett received the loudest reactions of his career. On April 7, he returned to the ring and immediately began collecting wins over the likes of Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and Sheamus before beating Big E and taking the Intercontinental Championship this past Sunday at Extreme Rules. It remains to be seen how the latest Barrett push pans out. Hopefully, for the performer's sake, he finally breaks through the proverbial glass ceiling and achieves what so many know he can. But if history repeats itself, as it tends to, the new Intercontinental champion may find himself back in the midcard, looking up and wondering what he can possibly do next.