That Wade Barrett Character

[Kiffy Lube]

I don't know if it's just me but this guy really isn't improving like he should be. I mean his in-ring work is all over the place and never consistent. I sometimes watch his matches and have no idea what kind of style he is trying incorporate all while the announcers shove his bare-knuckle shit in my face. That would be fine if he was pretty much a strike-oriented wrestler but he only goes into that mode at random times. His new finisher is a step in the right direction even though if it's a poor man's Death Blow Elbow. Most people should know what that move is.

Now, I know for most fans think you need some vast arsenal moves to be a "good" wrestler but in reality it's the exact opposite. Indy wrestlers that have little experience sometimes have the widest range of moves yet have the poorest quality matches. They are just sloppy with random moves that don't help tell any kind of story in the ring. While some people hate on Cena and Sheamus for not having enough moves. Ugh. If you are a brawler(what Barrett is supposed to be) then you don't need very many moves. You just bring the fight to your opponent like a real man. And on top of that most wrestling moves are unrealistic and need your opponent's help to pull off in the first place. I think Wade should take a year off and watch some William Regal tapes to actually understand what a real fighting Englishman looks like.

If it wasn't for his decent mic skills, I'd think he'd be a lost cause because he should be much better than he is with the personality he brings to the table. He does have a figure that stands out among a crowd, he just doesn't seem to know how to own it. It's quite sad and Triple H should probably start yelling at him backstage at every event until it starts to click.

So now that I threw out my opinion on Wade... What kind of things do you think Barrett should improve on?

 

[We Are Legion]

I completely agree with you on the "all over the place" part, but I think the said can be said about his character in general and not just his wrestling skills. I took a break from wrestling back in September and started watching again the night after EC to get into Wrestlemania mode, so I didn't see a lot of the prelude to his current role in the company. But after seeing it, I'm definitely not sure what to think of it. About 80% of the time, I'm completely uninterested in him, then every once and a while he'll do something that makes me say "Okay, that was kinda cool" but it's utterly impossible for me to get into him.

I actually preferred his old personality in the NeXus days when he was a cold, ruthless powerhouse. Even though his moveset was a lot more limited, I generally enjoyed him more. Not sure why WWE felt the need to retool him completely when he came back from his injury, but it seems like it was a pretty unneeded adjustment. He was good enough the way he was to win NXT, so evidently he was doing something right.

 

[Defiant]

Wade has all the tools to get over way more than he is now, but he badly needs some direction. He's showing signs of improvement in the ring which to me says potential, but as you said he doesn't seem to know what to do with his skills exactly and just sort of does whatever move. That's something Wade needs to fix over time.

More immediately, he needs a more defined gimmick. I see Barrett as an old school kind of heel: Ruthless, cunning and just fun to listen to. Pretty much how his character was laid out for us during Nexus. He should manipulate people, get himself involved in personal grudges or angles only to further his own needs, but still has the background to pose a decent threat.

He doesn't need to be rocketed to the moon for this to work. But as soon as someone figures out how to package Barrett and gives him something to run his mouth about, you'll think he's being pushed.

 

[Deezy]

Barrett is fine where he is at. He is progressing just fine, he is getting good TV time, doing promos almost weekly and has matches with people of name value. I don't see what the problem is here? Is it because he does jobs? Everybody does jobs when they are young in their career.

Also, Indy workers who have an arsenal of moves are not workers. They are marks, nobody on the indy circuit have signature moves or finish moves, unless they made a name for themselves. Most Indy guys who are starting out are not doing shit but selling.

 

[The Cork]

Dunno, I liked when he treated Cena like a bitchboy and made him make tea for Nexus, but his matches are fairly shit (only Khali is consistently worse IMO) and his music is shit, and basically everything else is shit too.

Maybe throw him in a tag with a 'technical' guy and see if anything rubs off? Or let Regal stretch him until he's forced to do better?

Don't really care about him, but it's not his fault exactly. WWE don't put much thought into booking midcarders....it's either "you go over Kofi this week" or "mini feud with The Miz".

 

[Troy]

Since returning from injury he was a bit disappointing and his brawler gimmick didn't work that well. He has been more entertaining the past month with his Hollywood character thanks to Dead Man Down. He is just suffering from what all midcarders suffer, WWE doesn't currently care about those beneath the mainevent and don't put anywhere near enough time or effort into their storylines. Look at how they are booking both midcard champions, Barrett only started to get some decent airtime and a feud after his movie was released and Cesaro just keeps jobbing even though he is holding a title.

 

[Deezy]

Holycrap! This guy is being showcased weekly and given promo time. So is Cesaro, why does everyone get hung up on wins and losses here? Because of a belt? Those belts are just mere objects and don't mean shit. And why doesn't that belt mean shit? Because there is too many damn titles and nobody to challenge them, this is why Barrett and Cesaro are taking on upper echelon performers and putting them over. Nobody gives two fucks about a Cody/Kofi/Sin Cara or even a Miz for that matter. Midcarders are the like the middle class, meaning they are not in the middle anymore.....The top guys are up here





















Midcarders are right here.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

I didn't even bring up the fact that he was IC Champion. I didn't think it was necessary since it's Wrestlemania time and nobody in the company cares about these useless belts this time of the year.

 

[Deezy]

I didn't even bring up the fact that he was IC Champion. I didn't think it was necessary since it's Wrestlemania time and nobody in the company cares about these useless belts this time of the year.

I didn't realize you were the only one posting in this thread.

Also, let's pretend that getting promo time everyweek and facing the top guys is terrible, because nobody can connect with an audience by just talking and being showcased against the biggest stars on the roster.

 

[Defiant]

It's not that we think Barrett is badly positioned or not getting his opportunities or anything. I mean, he has a title, gets more mic time than most and was just in a film. WWE has their eye on him so I'm not worried for his future or anything.

It's that despite the promise and improvement Wade has shown us, there seems to be a key element missing. Maybe it'll all be alright over time, but at the moment he feels incomplete and all over the place, in gimmick and ring style. In that regard he seems to have gone backwards from the Nexus days.

 

[Deezy]

Chris Jericho didn't become the best at what he does until 08. Mark Henry didn't become awesome until 06. Big Show didn't become great until 07.....Take along time for people to become great at this profession, I think alot of people are expecting too much too early for professional wrestlers these days. It used to take guys around 8-10 years before they start becoming bonafide draws.

Goldbergs, Brocks and Rocks are born, not created.

 

[Troy]

Holycrap! This guy is being showcased weekly and given promo time. So is Cesaro, why does everyone get hung up on wins and losses here? Because of a belt? Those belts are just mere objects and don't mean shit. And why doesn't that belt mean shit? Because there is too many damn titles and nobody to challenge them, this is why Barrett and Cesaro are taking on upper echelon performers and putting them over. Nobody gives two fucks about a Cody/Kofi/Sin Cara or even a Miz for that matter. Midcarders are the like the middle class, meaning they are not in the middle anymore.....The top guys are up here





















Midcarders are right here.

Because surely if you have titles you do all you can to protect them. The reason that fans don't care about the titles and the midcarders is due to WWE telling the fans not to care about them. What I fail to understand is why WWE themselves bother having this many titles when they clearly don't have any intention of using them properly. It would be a lot easier for the creative team if they reduced the number of titles from 6 to something more manageable with the limited roster that they have. Maybe WM30 will be the day when WWE decides to merge the titles.

 

[Deezy]

Because surely if you have titles you do all you can to protect them. The reason that fans don't care about the titles and the midcarders is due to WWE telling the fans not to care about them. What I fail to understand is why WWE themselves bother having this many titles when they clearly don't have any intention of using them properly. It would be a lot easier for the creative team if they reduced the number of titles from 6 to something more manageable with the limited roster that they have. Maybe WM30 will be the day when WWE decides to merge the titles.

Titles don't mean anything because titles changed hands like 80s wrestlers exchanging needles and pills. Attitude Era fucked up everything, by hotshotting everything and making the viewers expect this crashtv pace to continue. WWE has been trying to slow this train the fuck down since 05 and has slowly been turning the tide. There are still very vocal fans who are never going to be happy with this, we are to blame just as much.

 

[Troy]

Titles don't mean anything because titles changed hands like 80s wrestlers exchanging needles and pills. Attitude Era fucked up everything, by hotshotting everything and making the viewers expect this crashtv pace to continue. WWE has been trying to slow this train the fuck down since 05 and has slowly been turning the tide. There are still very vocal fans who are never going to be happy with this, we are to blame just as much.

True we don't need to go back to the days where 13 title changes occurred in 12 months, I think it was 00 or 99 when that happened. I have liked the direction that WWE headed with regard to the length of title reigns and protecting them a bit more that way. I still can't believe that they continue to job out midcard champions though. As I said I am fine with it happening for a reason but for a throwaway match in RAW or Smackdown it makes no sense to me.