Wade Barrett Says Bad News Gimmick Not Having A Face Turn Is A Missed Opportunity

Wade Barrett has played a variety of roles in his time in WWE: leader of the Nexus and the Corre, Bad News Barrett, a bare knuckle brawler and King Barrett. But in a recent interview, Barrett spoke on how WWE missed a chance to turn his B’ad News’ character into a babyface.

Speaking to WrestleZone radio, Barrett said that despite the concept of the Bad News Barrett character, handing out bad news to the WWE Universe, people started to get behind him and that a face turn would have been the next step. The Bad News Barrett character lasted from 2013-2015.

“I think Bad News Barrett was a lot of fun,” Barrett said. “It was probably something that wasn’t supposed to get over to the degree it got over. Fortunately a few things clicked and it worked. I actually agree that at that point I should have been turned babyface. That was the natural progression. If you look back at people like The Rock there are times when earlier in his career he was doing heel stuff and he was so entertaining that people cheered for him. The natural thing to do was turn him babyface. That’s what they did. I agree that at that point that was something that I do regret. The decision to keep me as a heel.”

Barrett believed that sometimes, a wrestler will get over if he does his job well enough, no matter if they’re a face or a heel. He used the example of The Rock as proof of that statement and why his Bad News gimmick should have had a face run.

I think it was just something that people were entertained by. It was so quirky and different and people react to that stuff. If the performer is good and the presentation is good and the people are enjoying it. Even if you are going out telling people that they are about to have heart attacks. If you deliver it with a certain panache and charisma then they are going to look forward to seeing that act on the show. I remember when I was younger and seeing guys like The Rock cut these promos telling the world how terrible they are. How they are a bunch of losers and stuff like that. He was so funny when he did it that you couldn’t wait ’til he came out and started insulting you. That’s what turned him in to the babyface he became. I think there was an opportunity as Bad News Barrett to turn me in to a babyface. I am not saying that I would have gotten to the level The Rock got to but it was certainly a chance for me to do something different and keep me motivated and stimulated by what I was doing on the show. I think it was a missed opportunity to be honest with you. “

Barrett will be starring in the upcoming movie Vengeance, which comes out later this year. You can listen to the full interview here.