Bad News Barrett

Trained in bare-knuckle brawling on the mean streets of Preston, England, Bad News Barrett brings strength, arrogance and cunning to the ring in equal measure. He’s also imbued with confidence and eloquence, character traits that have propelled the cocky young Brit to the top ranks in WWE.

Since coming to WWE prominence as the winner of WWE NXT season one, Barrett has proven he’s not content merely to share the spotlight with his fellow Superstars. He wants total control, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get it.

After winning NXT, Barrett shocked the WWE Universe by forming the splinter group The Nexus and staging a hostile takeover on Raw, eventually forcing John Cena to join their crew before getting him fired from WWE. Barrett soon splintered off from The Nexus and formed The Corre on SmackDown, while capturing the Intercontinental Championship. The Corre eventually tired of Barrett’s selfishness, leaving the brawler to unleash his “Barrett Barrage” on WWE by himself.

Following a partially dislocated elbow that kept him out of action for nearly seven months, a reinvigorated Barrett made his intense return to WWE in September 2012. The English Superstar used his downtime to get back to basics and “reignite the flame” — presumably through participation in the sort of bare-knuckle boxing he took part in in his past.

Barrett recaptured the Intercontinental Title twice more along the way, including an emphatic win over The Miz, but disappeared during Summer 2012.

Barrett returned to Raw that winter, and it wasn't good news for the WWE Universe. Barrett has taken it upon himself to be WWE's bearer of bad tidings. Banging a gavel to quiet the WWE Universe, Barrett takes joy in ruining the good mood of anyone unfortunate enough to hear him speak from behind his ominous lectern.

After months of delivering bad news to the WWE Universe, Barrett returned to action on the Raw after WrestleMania 30. With the many British fans in the crowd singing and chanting his praises, Barrett nearly took Rey Mysterio's head off with a Bad News Bull Hammer Elbow en route to victory. After his win, the Brit had one message for the WWE locker room: Bad News Barrett is back.

After capturing his fourth Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules, Barrett sustained a separated shoulder, forcing him out of action. Because of the injury, he was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship. The surly Brit appeared at WWE Battleground to issue a warning to the participants in the Battle Royal for the vacant title - as soon as he's healed, Barrett is coming for the Intercontinental Championship. He returned after four months at Survivor Series Kickoff to claim WWE "will flourish in a new era of Bad News Barrett." On the first Raw of 2015, Barrett followed up that proclamation by capturing his fifth Intercontinental Championship.

He held his fifth Intercontinental Championship until WrestleMania 31, when Daniel Bryan captured it in a fast and furious Ladder Match. The two were scheduled to battle at Extreme Rules, but Bryan's health put the bout on hold. Instead, Barrett faced off against Neville on the Extreme Rules Kickoff in a losing effort.