Former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett has revealed where his “Bad News Barrett” came from, as he looks back on the most successful time in his career.
As Bad-News Barrett, the Englishman found the most popularity and success of his entire career. He became an Intercontinental Champion not long after returning post-Wrestlemania 30 and was slated to win the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2014. However, injury curtailed his run and he never achieved the potential which was prophesised at the start of his WWE run.
Speaking with Ryan Satin on an episode of “Out of Character with Ryan Satin“, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion revealed the origin of his “Bad-News Barrett” character. He revealed that it was invented by Cody Rhodes as part of the “JBL & Cole Show” on Youtube. It debuted on the program and once Vince McMahon saw it, wanted him on television immediately.
“The idea to bring it to TV was actually Vince’s, I think, so I’ve been doing the character for a little while on something called the JBL and Cole show … Cody was on there, I think Renee [Paquette] was on there, there were just various people darting in and out of the show … Cody, for a couple of years, had been telling stories about how I was this really old guy. Cody’s a real BS’er in the locker room, and he’d been telling everyone stories about how he used to watch me when he was a kid, and I was on TV wrestling Hard Boiled Haggerty. And I would always come out and give bad news, and I was called ‘Bad News Barrett.'”
“Coincidentally, an episode of “The JBL and Cole Show” was set to feature both Barrett and Cody at the same time, so the five-time Intercontinental Champion brought the “Bad News” gimmick to life for the man that first came up with it. JBL was so amused that he took it straight to Vince McMahon, who adored the presentation so much that he immediately green-lit it for television. “That seemed to then catch fire and take me in a whole different arc of my career,”
Wade Barrett retired from the ring in 2016, wrestling his last match on the Raw after Wrestlemania 32. He since moved behind the commentary desk and now partner Michael Cole every week for Friday Night Smackdown. He has also been rumoured to return to the ring as a surprise entrant in the 2023 Royal Rumble.