Wade Barrett recently made his return to WWE programming as the new color commentator for the NXT brand. Despite hopping around to a number of companies in recent years, the former Intercontinental Champion still hasn’t competed in a wrestling match since he was first released by WWE in 2016. And in a new interview with Digital Spy, Barrett says he intends on keeping it that way. There is, however, one exception — a match with reigning WWE Champion and Barrett’s personal friend Drew McIntyre.
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“In truth if I was to come back as a full-time in-ring guy, I really would be chasing the sunset of my career. I don’t think there’s that many more years left in me. So the question is, what would I want to achieve? The only thing I didn’t achieve in WWE that I always wanted to achieve was to become the WWE Champion, and that title is now held by an old friend of mine, Drew McIntyre,” Barrett said. “So taking him on for that title is something that certainly might tempt me back for a match or two.”
Don’t be playing the big man on here because you’ve got a movie to promote (I am Vengeance – Retaliation, OUT NOW!!!) I still remember you in tears of joy when I won the big one. If you don’t shut up I’ll start acting and win an Oscar before you as well https://t.co/YQx5c1xe0H
— Drew McIntyre (@DMcIntyreWWE) June 20, 2020
Barrett was pushed into the main event scene back in 2010 when he and the Nexus stable first arrived on Raw. However his multiple attempts at taking the WWE Championship from Randy Orton were thwarted (usually by John Cena), and he was pushed down to the midcard for the remainder of his run.
After popping up on the commentary team for a few weeks, Barrett officially signed a new contract in early September.
Thrilled to be “officially” working together. Wade will add a valuable perspective to the commentary table and add insight from his years of in-ring experience each week on #WWENXT. #WeAreNXT@StuBennett https://t.co/J9ekxxftlM
— Triple H (@TripleH) September 16, 2020
The big man had a front-row seat for Sunday’s NXT TakeOver 31 event, which saw four of the brand’s championships be successfully defended. You can see the full results below:
- NXT Championship: Finn Balor def. Kyle O’Reilly
- NXT Women’s Championship: Io Shirai def. Candice LeRae
- NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Santos Escobar def. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
- Kushida def. Velveteen Dream
- NXT North American Championship: Damian Priest def. Johnny Gargano
