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. The Englishman was even slated to win the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2014.
However, injury curtailed his run. He also drew the ire of Vince McMahon, for the horrific crime of getting cheered because the fans liked his character, without the Chairman’s approval.
Barrett never achieved his true potential. At one point, he was slated to become the first ever British WWE Champion. However, he retired from wrestling not long after WrestleMania 32, at the age of 35.
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,”
