WWE Star Admits Upsetting Legend With “Embarrassing” Botch
Things nearly ended badly for one WWE Hall of Famer.
Wade Barrett signed with WWE back in 2007, initially working on a developmental deal before appearing in the first season of NXT. This saw the star become part of the Nexus in 2010, which sought to take out John Cena and any other main roster stars they could their hands on.
Over the next six years, Barrett enjoyed a good run of success, becoming King of the Ring, and a five-time Intercontinental Champion.
In 2016, Barrett was granted an early release from his contract having become burnt out after working WWE’s famously punishing schedule for several years. After a number of appearances on the independent scene, the star returned to NXT as an announcer in 2020. Wade Barrett currently works as a commentator on SmackDown.
Wade Barrett Nearly Injured WWE Legend
During a new interview with Alistair McGeorge for The Metro, Barrett recalled his early days on the main roster and one particular match that almost went catastrophically wrong.
On the July 19th, 2010 episode of Raw, Barrett wrestled Mark Henry in just his second singles match on the main roster. Ahead of the match, the star says management insisted on him hitting Henry with his finisher — something that involved him holding the 400lbs+ Henry in a Fireman’s Carry position, before dropping him on his back.
“Now my old finisher was called The Wasteland and it was a fireman’s carry where I’d kind of flip them off onto their back afterwards. I was used to doing that against guys who were about at most 250, 260 pounds, something like that.
Mark Henry was way too big and I didn’t want to do it. But at the time management was insisting, “Here’s how you make a huge impact Wade, we need you to do this”. “I don’t want to do it guys”. “Too bad, you have to do it.”‘
Despite not wanting to perform the spot, Barrett was left feeling he had little choice but to try and make it work. Impressively, the British star managed to pull off the move ahead of the show, but when the cameras began rolling, things were a different story.
We tried it during the day, it worked pretty well. And then we tried it in the match and it did not work well,’ he said, admitting it was almost disastrous.
He added: ‘I almost broke my spine, I landed Mark on top of his head, and he was very upset with me afterwards and this was on live TV, getting beamed around the world.’
During the same interview, Barrett admitted he could yet return to the ring, but he’ll only do so “if it makes sense.” The star hasn’t wrestled since teaming with Sheamus in defeat to the New Day on the April 4th, 2016 episode of Raw.