It was all good news for the man from Bristol this week, as he managed to win not just the one expected title defence, but three. At Payback, Barrett saw off the legendary Rob Van Dam in a good match despite its seemingly foregone conclusion. He did lose to RVD the following night, but only after being abandoned by his partner, Cesaro, leaving him to face both RVD and Sheamus alone. This result saw him forced to defend once again on Main Event against RVD, which he was about to win with the Bull Hammer Elbow when Cesaro hit the ring and attacked him with a Neutraliser. Barrett not only kept his championship, but scored a disqualification win thanks to the Paul Heyman Guy. It did put him in his third defence of the week on Friday though, having to fend off both men. But the champion survived, hitting Van Dam with the Bull Hammer just as the 'Whole Dam Show' though he had the victory in hand. Furthermore, Barrett was characteristically golden on the microphone throughout the week. Opening Main Event with an in-ring promo about his displeasure at being forced to defend his championship again, a theme that would carry into his interview on SmackDown, Barrett's arguments were not only strongly delivered, they were hard to argue against.
