Wade Barrett: Scary Injury on RAW Puts Superstar's Rise on Hold

Wade Barrett was finally getting pushed up the card in recent months, including an entertaining feud with Randy Orton on SmackDown, but his “Barrett Barrage” will be on hold after suffering a serious arm injury on RAW last night.

Brett Clendaniel of WrestleChat.com passes along a report that Barrett will miss six to 10 weeks with a dislocated elbow. The injury occurred after trying to catch Dolph Ziggler, who had been eliminated from the 10-man battle royal by Big Show.

Immediately after the spot, it was obvious this wasn't your typical kayfabe injury to send a wrestler off on a vacation for a couple weeks. Barrett was clearly in immense pain, and once the referee threw up the dreaded “X” sign everybody knew something bad happened.

Even after the match ended, Chris Jericho, who presumably thought the taping was over, walked over to one of the referees and asked what happened to Barrett.

It's a disappointing turn of events for the Englishman. He's really started to come into his own both in the ring and on the mic recently, which led many to believe a major push was on the horizon either at WrestleMania or shortly after.

There's been a lot of talk about bringing back a Money in the Bank match at April's marquee event. Barrett would have been a top contender to capture the briefcase, but the timetable for his return likely doesn't leave enough time to prepare for that type of battle.

Hopefully once he's ready to return, the time away doesn't totally destroy his previous momentum. SmackDown is in desperate need of some stars to emerge to help carry the show behind Orton and Daniel Bryan.

Barrett was on the brink of securing that second heel spot behind Bryan following the downfall of Mark Henry. Instead, a freak injury puts his future in question. A lot will depend on what other superstars do while he's away.

While there are plenty of people who hound on the fact the WWE is “fake,” diehard fans know better. The results may be scripted, but the superstars put their bodies on the line each week just like professional athletes.

Nobody understands that better today than Barrett. All he can do now is wait for the injury to heal and pray his push hasn't been abandoned by the time his arm is back to 100 percent.

It would be a terrible way for the “Barrett Barrage” to end.