Wade Barrett

This article is about the English professional wrestler. For the American soccer player, see Wade Barrett (soccer).

Wade Barrett
Bennett in 2016
Birth nameStuart Alexander Bennett
Born (1980-08-10) 10 August 1980 (age 44)
Penwortham, England
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bad News Barrett
King Barrett
Lawrence Knight
Pinnacle[1]
Stu Bennett
Stu Sanders
Wade Barrett
Billed height6 ft 7 in (201 cm)[2]
Billed weight246 lb (112 kg)[2]
Billed fromManchester, England
Preston, England
Trained byAl Snow[3]
Jon Richie[3]
Debut2004[3]
Retired2016

Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is a British-American Former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Wade Barrett as a colour commentator on the Raw brand.

Barrett won the first season of NXT in 2010 and made his main roster debut on Raw later that year, rising to prominence as the leader of The Nexus, a villainous faction composed of the remaining NXT first season rookies. He headlined five PPV events for WWE in 2010—SummerSlam, Night of Champions, Bragging Rights, Survivor Series, and TLC—three of which saw him unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE Championship. In 2011, he formed The Corre, a short-lived group with former Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel as well as Ezekiel Jackson. After they disbanded, he would go on to become a five-time Intercontinental Champion.

In 2013, Barrett's ring name was amended to Bad News Barrett and he adopted the character of someone who took immense pleasure in delivering bad news. Upon winning the 2015 King of the Ring tournament, his ring name was changed to King Barrett and he began portraying an arrogant royal character. He notably portrayed a villain for his entire WWE career, regardless of the other changes made to his character.[4] He left WWE in 2016 and has not wrestled since, though he has appeared in non-wrestling roles on the international independent circuit, such as a commentator for World of Sport Wrestling and a general manager for Defiant Wrestling under his real name. He returned to WWE as a commentator for NXT in 2020.

Bennett made his acting debut in the action film Dead Man Down (2013) and has since starred in action films such as Eliminators (2016), I Am Vengeance (2018), and I Am Vengeance: Retaliation (2020).

  1. ^ "Wade Barrett - Career Data". Cagematch. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WWE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference OWW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Mendhe, Abhilash (5 September 2019). "3 WWE Superstars who never turned heel and 2 who never turned face". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 11 March 2021.