Wade Barrett Says Arianna Grace Asked Him To Use ‘Wasteland,’ Says She Has Improved It

Wade Barrett put many opponents away with the Wasteland (a forward roll fireman’s carry slam), but he praises an NXT peer for doing it better. 

Before he switched to the Bullhammer, Barrett used the Wasteland as his finisher. Barrett stopped being a full-time active competitor in 2016, but his legacy lives on in the ring as Arianna Grace uses the Wasteland as her finisher. 

Speaking to Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Barrett praised Grace for her version of the move. 

“Arianna Grace, who is in NXT, she’s unfortunately just gone in for surgery and has picked up an injury, hopefully she’ll be back soon. She started doing her version of the Wasteland and, first of all, she came to me and said, ‘Would you mind if I use this move? I like the way you do it.’ I said, ‘Of course.’ How cool is that, that she came up to me and asked me?  Here’s what I don’t like, she actually does it better than I did. She figured out a way of doing it where she goes down with it, it looks even better than how I did it. So, maybe if I could go back in time, I’d try to do Arianna Grace’s version rather than my own version. As much as I hate to admit it, the youngster has improved on my way of doing it,” he said.

Grace underwent surgery in October. It is unknown how long she will be sidelined. 

After returning to WWE to do commentary for NXT in August 2020, Barrett is now part of the WWE SmackDown commentary team. You can find his comments on the move by clicking here. 

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