Black Widow
11-21-2010, 04:41 PM
When Stu Bennett was a young lad in Britain, he loved watching the wrestling heroes of the day.
On his wall, he had a poster of The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith.
Someday, he knew, he would make it big -- become a big wrestling star himself.
That time is here. Bennett is Wade Barrett, leader of the Nexus faction, which has strongarmed its way to the top of the WWE hierarchy.
And Barrett is stepping into the ring at Sunday's Survivor Series pay-per-view with a chance to remove the championship strap from the waist of current champ Randy Orton. With John Cena as the ref, well, it leaves the door open for a variety of endings.
"It's pretty exciting," said Barrett. "When I was a kid, a 10-year-old watching WWE, I always knew who the World Cup champion was, who the boxing world champ was and who the WWE champion was -- The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart ...
"Some kids had a dream to be an astronaut, to go to the moon. My dream was to be the WWE champ."
So far so good with Nexus. It's been a successful run and who knows when the inevitable split will take place?
"I'm pretty happy with the twists and turns so far," said Barrett. "It started off with a real bang with the Nexus invasion. And sometimes if you have an impact like that, it's difficult to maintain interest. I don't think they expected things to go as well as they did. I often try and figure out in my head where this is headed, but I'm really as clueless as everyone else."
Barrett is a heel and he sees it staying that way.
"I don't think of myself as ever being a guy who would get cheered," he said. "It's not in my nature, the way I present myself ... it's a generally despicable character. I could see guys like Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel being fan favourites, but not me.
"When I started off in the UK indy circuit, I was supposed to be a crowd favourite, but it didn't happen.
"The Wade Barrett character is based on real life, it's an extension of my dark side. I don't think it would work for me in life to walk around as Wade Barrett, but there are elements of that in me."
Barrett says his WWE experience has been an awesome ride, learning from the best.
"If you want to be as good as you can be, you have to work with the best," he said. "When you work with guys like John Cena, Randy Orton and The Undertaker, you learn. And when I was on NXT, I was fortunate to have Chris Jericho as my mentor.
"I stood behind the curtain on RAW (this past week), just before I went out and interrupted Piper's Pit. And (Roddy Piper) delivered one of the best promos I've heard in a while -- it was incredible the emotion he brought out."
Barrett wants to make an impact on the wrestling business, he's just not sure his name will go in the same bright lights as some others before him.
"The people who tend to list the top wrestlers, they're generally listing wrestlers the fans liked. Hulk Hogan. Bret Hart. The Undertaker. The Rock. Shawn Michaels. I'm going to be the wrestler that fans don't like. And that will affect people's memories of me. I'm going to be the guy that's fighting the favourite."
SLAM! Wrestling
On his wall, he had a poster of The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith.
Someday, he knew, he would make it big -- become a big wrestling star himself.
That time is here. Bennett is Wade Barrett, leader of the Nexus faction, which has strongarmed its way to the top of the WWE hierarchy.
And Barrett is stepping into the ring at Sunday's Survivor Series pay-per-view with a chance to remove the championship strap from the waist of current champ Randy Orton. With John Cena as the ref, well, it leaves the door open for a variety of endings.
"It's pretty exciting," said Barrett. "When I was a kid, a 10-year-old watching WWE, I always knew who the World Cup champion was, who the boxing world champ was and who the WWE champion was -- The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart ...
"Some kids had a dream to be an astronaut, to go to the moon. My dream was to be the WWE champ."
So far so good with Nexus. It's been a successful run and who knows when the inevitable split will take place?
"I'm pretty happy with the twists and turns so far," said Barrett. "It started off with a real bang with the Nexus invasion. And sometimes if you have an impact like that, it's difficult to maintain interest. I don't think they expected things to go as well as they did. I often try and figure out in my head where this is headed, but I'm really as clueless as everyone else."
Barrett is a heel and he sees it staying that way.
"I don't think of myself as ever being a guy who would get cheered," he said. "It's not in my nature, the way I present myself ... it's a generally despicable character. I could see guys like Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel being fan favourites, but not me.
"When I started off in the UK indy circuit, I was supposed to be a crowd favourite, but it didn't happen.
"The Wade Barrett character is based on real life, it's an extension of my dark side. I don't think it would work for me in life to walk around as Wade Barrett, but there are elements of that in me."
Barrett says his WWE experience has been an awesome ride, learning from the best.
"If you want to be as good as you can be, you have to work with the best," he said. "When you work with guys like John Cena, Randy Orton and The Undertaker, you learn. And when I was on NXT, I was fortunate to have Chris Jericho as my mentor.
"I stood behind the curtain on RAW (this past week), just before I went out and interrupted Piper's Pit. And (Roddy Piper) delivered one of the best promos I've heard in a while -- it was incredible the emotion he brought out."
Barrett wants to make an impact on the wrestling business, he's just not sure his name will go in the same bright lights as some others before him.
"The people who tend to list the top wrestlers, they're generally listing wrestlers the fans liked. Hulk Hogan. Bret Hart. The Undertaker. The Rock. Shawn Michaels. I'm going to be the wrestler that fans don't like. And that will affect people's memories of me. I'm going to be the guy that's fighting the favourite."
SLAM! Wrestling