Reason WWE Dropped The Bad News Barrett Gimmick

While speaking to We Are Defiant, former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett revealed why WWE decided to drop the “Brad News Barrett” gimmick because he was a heel that was getting a babyface reaction.

“I was specifically told the reason I wasn’t allowed to say my catchphrase ‘I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news’ anymore was that it was getting a positive response and they wanted me to be a heel. I personally didn’t agree with that philosophy. I felt ‘Look, if they are going to cheer for me, they like this, let’s go with it. I’ve never been a babyface before, let’s go with it.’ The decision was made above my pay grade and that wasn’t going to be the case and then I was Bad News Barrett, a guy who didn’t cut promos and wasn’t giving out bad news, so that kind of instigated the transition into a completely different character and the King run at that point, so for me personally, like I say, I didn’t agree with it but it wasn’t my decision to make ultimately.”

You can listen to his remarks embedded in the audio below: