Wade Barrett has all the tools to become an undeniable force in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
That might help explain why it came as such a shock — and disappointment — to the WWE Universe to learn about reports alleging the superstar is leaving the company over being unhappy with his current role.
ProWrestlingSheet.com reported Wednesday that Barrett won't be signing a contract extension with WWE once his deal expires in June, although there's no official word on what the superstar will be transitioning toward — whether it's continuing to wrestle for a different company (Total Nonstop Action?) or choosing another career path altogether.
The former WWE Intercontinental champion, who segued his "Bad News" moniker into King Barrett after winning the King of the Ring tournament last April, took to his Twitter account Wednesday to seemingly acknowledge the reports and the deluge of messages sent his way.
I unexpectedly received a lot of very nice messages from people today. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write some kind words.
— Stu Bennett (@WadeBarrett) February 17, 2016
I'll comment further at a more appropriate time, but for now I'm 100% focused on doing my job for @WWE. See you at #FastLane on Sunday. — Stu Bennett (@WadeBarrett) February 17, 2016
Although he said that he received "a lot of very nice messages from people" Wednesday, fellow superstar Randy Orton seemingly wasn't one of them. Upon learning the news floating around, WWE's Facebook account posted a video of Orton taking on Barrett from the company's 2010 Bragging Rights pay-per-view event, along with the caption, "One thing #TheViper doesn't respect: A COWARD." While it's likely that the sentiment came from whomever is controlling WWE's social media, and not Orton himself, it's still a pretty telling message to come from the company.
More than anything, Barrett leaving the company in a few months represents a huge case of unfulfilled potential. From the moment Barrett burst onto the scene as the NXT season one winner in 2010, he'd already shown that he had the potential to be great.
At 6-7 and 246 pounds, with a presence on the microphone and solid signature move with the Bull Hammer, it's amazing that winning NXT, being an Intercontinental champion and being crowned King of the Ring were his main career highlights. What went wrong? How come he didn't get that main event type of push?
Perhaps he's unhappy over his current role because WWE hasn't given him the huge push he feels he deserves.
He did say that he will comment further at a more appropriate time. Let's see what he has to say by then.
What will his next move be?
