Wade Barrett discusses whether actually wrestling Drew is of any interest to him, what he thinks Drew’s weakness was that is now his strength

By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett (art credit Grant Gould © PWTorch)

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Two months ago, Wade Barrett spoke to AceOdds about whether he had any interest in returning to the ring, and if so, whom he’d like to wrestle. His answer, Drew McIntyre, gains new relevance after last Friday’s confrontation with Drew. The following are the excerpts of that interview, as supplied to PWTorch from AceOdds


QUESTION: Does the fact that WWE, with it now running major events in the UK, ever give you the itch to get back inside the ring to fight?

WADE BARRETT: One-hundred percent. And anytime I get asked this question, if I could have one match for the remainder of my days on this planet and you’re allowed one more match, who would it be? And it would absolutely be me against Drew McIntyre at Wembley Stadium. A sold out Wembley Stadium, I think that is the pinnacle for British wrestling, especially if you’re fans of the era back when Davey Boy (Smith) and Bret Hart competed in ’92 at that SummerSlam.

If they dangled that in front of me at any point in time, yeah, absolutely. I’m coming back and I’m having that sold out match at Wembley Stadium. But that is a bit of a pipe dream. It’s not something I’m actively pursuing or trying to pursue. I’m fit and healthy. If something came up where they say, “Okay, there’s a match here, would you be interested in doing it?” if it makes sense to me and I was excited to do it, absolutely, I could.

The other thing I would say though, is I look at the kind of schedule that Cody Rhodes has, for example, it’s a killer at this point in time for me. I’m 43 years old, not too far from 44. The prospect of physically grinding that kind of schedule month after month after month as a full-time guy, it’s not for me at this point in time. I’ve kind of mentally moved on from that.

QUESTION: From a professional perspective, what are your thoughts on how Drew represents the U.K. in WWE?

WADE BARRETT: I think Drew has been fantastic. I think he’s one of those guys who can do it all. He can be the big hero as we saw in Glasgow and the whole city or whole country is going nuts for him. He can be the most vile human being imaginable, which is what we saw a few days later in Chicago at C.M. Punk’s home. And he really is fantastic in the ring. He looks great. He’s a complete pro when it comes to representing WWE in the media and then on the mic. I think in the last 12 months, Drew has hit a whole new level on the mic where he’s potentially the number one guy in the entire industry when it comes to talking.

I would say historically that was Drew’s biggest weak point, especially when we first moved over to the U.S. He wasn’t confident on the mic. He had a lot of difficulties with his accent. People couldn’t understand him. I was having to translate for Drew when we’d be going into restaurants and things like that but his growth in all areas has been massive. And I think he’s the perfect guy to have become the first-ever British WWE World Champion. I think they knocked it out of the park with that guy and he’s going to keep on getting better and delivering over the next few years.

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