We're afraid we've got some bad news - Wade Barrett was never a World Champion in the WWE.
The former leader of the Nexus was one of the hottest superstars in professional wrestling back in his day, and over the course of his WWE tenure, there were a number of opportunities in which Vince could've pulled the trigger and made him the first ever British WWE Champion.
Unfortunately, that didn't come to fruition. As is the case with so many other talented superstars, Barrett never quite reached the top of the mountain and it's a shame considering how much work he put in on a weekly basis.
Still, he had a pretty solid career so he should be satisfied with that, right?
Wrong. If you're a professional wrestler and you aren't in the business to become the best, then you need to quit. Barrett is a supremely talented competitor who possessed all the tools necessary to succeed at the highest level, and he should have been given the belt on a number of occasions.
People can argue all they want, but the window opened for Mr Bad News several times before he left the company. With that being said, let's take a look at five times Wade Barrett should've been made World Champion.
#1 Survivor Series 2010
During his time as the leader of The Nexus, Wade Barrett was on fire. The group had dominated ever since their arrival, besides SummerSlam 2010 of course, and were looking set to rise to the top of the WWE food chain.
That all appeared destined to begin at Survivor Series 2010 when Barrett challenged Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. If Barrett didn't walk out with the title then, Cena would be fired, and it seems bizarre to think that it actually happened.
Also read: Five instances when WWE missed to use Wade Barrett's potential
This was set up perfectly so that Wade could become the WWE Champion and carry the title forward into a future feud with Cena, but instead, we had a case of "same old same old" with Orton retaining and Cena returning after about a week of being fired.
We'll fast forward just a few months for the next entry.
#2 Elimination Chamber 2011
Barrett, now the leader of The Corre, was a part of the 2011 Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Despite the spin-off group not being nearly as successful or interesting as The Nexus, there was still hope that Barrett could claw some relevance from them all.
Unfortunately, that hope was extinguished by the fist of Big Show as Barrett was the first man eliminated from the match.
This would've been a brilliant opportunity for the group to debut one or two new members, leading to the Englishman winning the WHC as a result.
Barrett looked as if he'd have a big time match at WrestleMania 27 anyway, so it made sense to add the title into the equation. However, the WWE decided to keep the title on Edge.
Once again, we go just a few months into the future.
#3 Post-MITB 2011
Daniel Bryan won the 2011 Money In The Bank ladder match, but in all fairness, it should've been Wade Barrett. Bryan went on to have a relatively successful heel turn with the strap, but it was an odd way for him to win his first World Title.
It feels as if Barrett would've benefited so much more from holding onto the briefcase, and at any time in the following few months he could've replaced Bryan by cashing in on either Henry or Show.
Hell, you could even have had him cash in the MITB on Randy Orton in order to renew their rivalry. They always seemed to have interesting matches together, so why not put the belt on Barrett and see what kind of work the two could do?
It would've been a story that made sense, as opposed to one that felt forced as was the case with the leader of the Yes Movement.
We jump forward to the following year now for Barrett's next big opportunity.
#4 SmackDown 2012
Upon his return in late 2012, Barrett had an entirely new look and was portraying a much edgier character. The fans were starting to get behind him more and more and understandably so, because he was knocking every single segment he was in, out of the park.
He was rewarded for his hard work with a series of non-title matches against World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, which included a Lumberjack match.
Simply put - that match should've been for the championship and Barrett should've won it. Sheamus wasn't really doing anything too interesting with the belt as a babyface champion, and Barrett had once again proven that he could reinvent himself at a moment's notice.
It all fell into place nicely and WWE should've had the grapefruits to pull the trigger.
We conclude with the most recent and probably least likely of the options.
#5 Money In The Bank 2013
This show happened just a few months prior to the debut of the Bad News Barrett character, WWE should've pushed it forward and had the Brit introduce the character earlier in the year itself.
Around this time, Barrett was progressively getting more involved in main event storylines which included helping Vince McMahon in the corporate makeover of Daniel Bryan, which would've made more sense if he was a World Champion.
Damien Sandow won the WHC MITB match, but if Barrett had won it instead, he could've cashed in on the very same night and defeated Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Then Barrett would have been the man to carry the belt into a feud with John Cena and even if he lost the title, at least he could have said that he had a run with it to begin with.
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