Wade Barrett Calls The Decision Not To Turn Him Face As Bad News Barrett, "A Missed Opportunity"

This WrestleZone Radio exclusive features WZ Daily’s Nick Hausman interviewing former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett, real name Stu Bennett.

Stu’s appearance is in conjunction with his upcoming lead role in the movie Vengeance.

On WWE’s decision not to turn him babyface once the fans started liking him as Bad News Barrett:

WB: I think Bad News Barrett was a lot of fun. 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. 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.

Some of the topics in this interview include:

His role in the upcoming film Vengeance
The differences in putting together a fight for a movie as opposed to a pro wrestling match
Why he doesn’t think the Bullhammer Elbow was an effective finishing move
How he presents himself as a babyface as opposed to a heel
WWE’s decision not to turn him face once the Bad News Barrett character got over
Why WWE doesn’t always push wrestlers the way fans want them pushed
What it was like working with the three other members of the League of Nations
Whether he was actively pitching ideas when he was given gimmicks that weren’t working
Plans that he and the others members of the League of Nations had for the stable that never saw the light of day
Whether he noticed that Rusev and Lana had heat on them from WWE management during the League of Nations run
Conor McGregor’s outspoken comments about Brock Lesnar and WWE Superstars
WWE’s decision to make part time wrestlers exempt from the WWE Wellness Policy
His King of the Ring win and what role he thinks the King of the Ring could serve in WWE today
His future pro wrestling plans
More…