Ranking the 10 Best Matches of Wade Barrett's WWE Career

On February 23, 2010, Wade "Bad News" Barrett made his debut appearance in WWE a part of the inaugural season of NXT. A standout from the start, he went on to win the competition and earn a spot on the main roster.

From leading The Nexus to prominence to capturing the Intercontinental Championship on five separate occasions, Barrett has accumulated much success in the last five years. Of course, with all the highs have come the lows, including two injuries that have kept him out of action for months on end.

Barrett is a prime example of a Superstar with whom company officials have dropped the ball time and time again. Having graced the main event scene before, the intercontinental champion has all the tools to be a big star if given proper creative direction.

In addition to all the championships won, Barrett has competed in his fair share of excellent matches over the years. As talented a talker as he has proven to be, he is also a great wrestler capable of having an enjoyable in-ring encounter with whomever he meets.

In light of the five-year anniversary of the evil Englishman's WWE's debut, this list will break down his most memorable and best bouts to date. Criteria will include buildup, in-ring action, significance, lasting impact and overall entertainment value.

10. Wade Barrett vs. Christian (WWE NXT: April 13, 2010)

Among the many flaws with the NXT concept when it initially launched was how the pros were pitted against the rookies. Very rarely were the rookies allowed to look strong against the established stars, much less win, making for a lose-lose situation.

However, in this one instance, WWE did it right, though it shouldn't have come as any surprise given who was involved. Christian spent his entire tenure on the ECW brand putting over younger talent, so it was foolish to think he wouldn't do the same here.

For the time they were allotted, Christian and Wade Barrett contested a well-wrestled match in which Barrett was made to look like Christian's equal. Barrett even had the live crowd in his corner, as the show emanated from his native England that night.

Despite an impressive outing against Captain Charisma, Barrett couldn't pick up the win. Even still, it was refreshing for once not to see the rookie completely annihilated by the seasoned veteran.

It'd be another three years before Christian and Barrett crossed paths again on the June 17, 2013 edition of Raw.

9. Wade Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE TLC 2012)

In March 2011, Barrett got his first taste of gold in WWE when he defeated Kofi Kingston to win the Intercontinental Championship. The matches they had against each other were relatively solid but never reached their potential.

Thankfully, that wouldn't be the only time they'd clash over that championship.

Upon Barrett's return from injury in late 2012, he immediately set his sights on the intercontinental title, which was held by Kingston at the time. With a win over Kingston on the Nov. 19 edition of Raw, Barrett earned himself a title opportunity at the TLC pay-per-view.

Unsurprisingly, they contested a very good match that was arguably the best of their series. Barrett and Kingston fired on all cylinders, making the belt feel somewhat important for once.

Furthermore, Barrett's new "bare-knuckle brawler" gimmick added a sense of freshness to the bout, with Kingston having a counter for everything he had in his arsenal. In the end, Kingston was only three seconds better than Barrett, but their feud was far from over.

Barrett eventually beat Kingston for the belt a second time on the New Year's Eve Raw, but their match on that night didn't quite capture the same magic from their TLC encounter.

8. Wade Barrett vs. Chris Jericho (Raw: August 16, 2010)

At the peak of The Nexus' popularity, nothing could stop them. They created much buzz when they first formed in June 2010 and went on to take WWE by storm.

As great a leader as Barrett was in Nexus' early beginnings, he had yet to have a truly great match. He worked with established stars such as John Cena, Edge and others, but for a majority of that summer Barrett was kept out of in-ring action.

The white-hot storyline built to a highly anticipated matchup between The Nexus and Cena's team of the heart and soul of WWE at SummerSlam. In what many saw as the moment the group officially cooled off, The Nexus came up short of against Team WWE.

The next night on Raw, Barrett gave each member of The Nexus a chance to prove themselves: If they won their respective matches against members of Team WWE, they'd maintain their spots in the faction.

Of course, Barrett didn't exclude himself from this series of matches, but he did have arguably the toughest opponent in his former pro from NXT, Chris Jericho.

The history and chemistry Jericho and Barrett had together made the match that much more exciting. It was the NXT Season 1 victor's first opportunity to showcase his skills as a singles performer, and he passed with flying colors.

Reversing Jericho's Codebreaker into a Wasteland of his own, Barrett put the former world champion down for the three-count. The clean win did quite a bit to lend credibility to Barrett, especially coming off the embarrassing loss at SummerSlam.

7. Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam (WWE Payback 2014)

Credit: WWE.com

Bad News Barrett and Rob Van Dam collide over the Intercontinental title.

Of his five reigns as intercontinental champion over the years, his best was easily his fourth in 2014. Coming off his hot return to the ring the night after WrestleMania 30, Barrett rode his momentum into Extreme Rules, where he beat Big E for the Intercontinental Championship.

Shortly thereafter, a Beat the Clock Challenge was held to determine a new No. 1 contender to the title, which was won by Rob Van Dam. Even at 44, RVD was still over with the audience and could deliver in the ring, so he was the perfect first foe for Barrett as champion.

At the Payback pay-per-view, the two did battle with the title up for grabs. On an otherwise stacked card, the match didn't at all feel out of place; they put forth a solid effort in which the title actually felt worth fighting for.

The momentum constantly shifted between the two rivals, and at one point RVD came close to capturing his sixth IC title when he went for the Five-Star Frog Splash. However, all it took was one swift Bull Hammer Elbow from Barrett to knock the ECW original out cold and score the victory.

6. Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton (WWE TLC 2011)

Although his better matches have come against Kofi Kingston and Sheamus, Barrett hasn't faced anyone more than he has Randy Orton.

Barrett and Orton first clashed in the fall of 2010 over the WWE Championship, and in each of their encounters, The Viper emerged victorious. Moreover, most of the focus was on John Cena's involvement and not the in-ring action.

It wasn't until the following fall, when they rekindled their rivalry, that they started putting on their best bouts to date. Barrett built momentum for himself for the first time since Nexus disbanded following a big win over Orton in a Traditional Elimination Tag Team match at Survivor Series.

In the weeks that followed, the loss haunted Orton, and it was up to him to avenge it. They were set to collide at the TLC pay-per-view, and thanks to a win in a Beat the Clock Challenge, Orton was able to pick the stipulation: a Tables match.

Very rarely are Tables matches entertaining, since almost anything can go wrong, but unsurprisingly they worked a very fun match that featured many close calls for both Superstars. As Barrett ascended the top rope to drop an elbow on Orton through the table, The Apex Predator popped up at the last possible second and nailed Orton with an RKO out of nowhere for the win.

Despite being on the verge of victory on a handful of occasions, the former intercontinental champion lost the match after making a minor mistake and thus still looked credible in defeat. 

5. Wade Barrett vs. The Miz (Raw: April 8, 2013)

On the New Year's Eve edition of Raw, Barrett beat Kofi Kingston to capture his second intercontinental title. But despite riding a wave of momentum going into 2013, the new year was anything but kind to Barrett.

It seemed that no matter who his opponent was, he'd always lose. Whether it was against Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus or Bo Dallas (of all people), Barrett couldn't win a match to save his life.

After going months without defending his title, Barrett finally entered a feud with The Miz before WrestleMania 29. The two were scheduled to face off with the belt on the line at The Show of Shows but were later bumped from the main card to the pre-show shortly before the event.

Even though the pre-show was an hour long, Barrett and Miz were given a mere four minutes of ring time. It wasn't a terrible match by any means, but how much excitement could there be in such a short period of time?

Thankfully, they were given much more time to work the following night on Raw in their championship rematch. With the red-hot New Jersey crowd in Barrett's corner, the electric atmosphere made the match feel even more important.

In surprising fashion, Barrett knocked Miz out with a swift elbow to the skull to score the win and his third Intercontinental Championship, only 24 hours removed from when he lost it.

It was perhaps the hottest title win of the England native's career, but he sadly went on to lose every match he was involved in from that point forward, a curse that remains with Barrett to this day.

4. Wade Barrett vs. John Cena (Hell in a Cell 2010)

There's no denying that the loss to Team WWE at 2010's SummerSlam event did significant damage to the credibility of both Wade Barrett and The Nexus, but that didn't stop Barrett from becoming a main event player in the months that followed.

John Cena's primary goal in the latter half of the year was to eradicate Nexus from the entire WWE, though he knew the group would remain a dominant force with Barrett at the helm.

Thus, he challenged the NXT Season 1 winner to a match with major implications at the inaugural Hell in a Cell pay-per-view: If Cena won, Nexus would cease to exist indefinitely. However, if Barrett was to win, Cena would be forced to join the black-and-yellow-clad faction.

Not only did the high stakes add to the excitement of the matchup, but the freshness of seeing Cena mix it up with one of WWE's hottest rising stars was also a breath of fresh air. This was also Barrett's first true test as to whether he could prove his worth as a top-tier talent in WWE.

With Nexus barred from ringside, Cena and Barrett traded momentum and signature maneuvers throughout, with Barrett kicking out of Cena's patented Attitude Adjustment finisher at one point. They both struggled to put the other away, forcing Barrett to look to his stablemates for assistance.

Due to a distraction from an "interfering fan" (aka Michael McGillicutty), another unknown wrestler (later revealed to be Husky Harris) knocked Cena out at ringside. Barrett capitalized on the unconscious Cena by scoring the win, causing fans in attendance to gasp in shock at the idea that their hero would join the group he long despised.

As big a win as it was for Barrett, it was a very well-wrestled and memorable match, too.

3. Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan (SummerSlam 2011)

Credit: WWE.com

Wade Barrett nails the Wasteland on Daniel Bryan.

For the first time in his career, Barrett was on his own following the breakup of The Corre in June 2011. He vowed to make an immediate impact as a singles competitor by winning the SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder match but was thwarted by fellow NXT Season 1 alum Daniel Bryan.

Of course, this didn't sit too well with Barrett. He attacked Bryan on several occasions on SmackDown, leading to a matchup between the two at the SummerSlam pay-per-view.

On a card that also featured John Cena vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship and Randy Orton vs. Christian for the World Heavyweight Championship, their gem of a match was typically overshadowed. It marked the first time they had ever gone one-on-one, and they did not disappoint.

Putting on an absolute clinic, Barrett and Bryan contested an excellent wrestling match that showcased the skills of both up-and-comers. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn't heavily invested in the match due to the feud's poor buildup to that point.

In the end, it was Barrett who came out on top with a Wasteland for the clean win. They could have had a stellar series of matches that fall if the feud wasn't dropped so abruptly.

2. Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler (Raw: June 23, 2014)

For the first time in years, the Intercontinental Championship actually felt relevant again around Bad News Barrett's waist. He was still losing the occasional non-title match from time to time, but his constant title defenses made up for them.

After falling short of victory against Dolph Ziggler on the June 20 edition of SmackDown, Barrett met the bleach-blond Superstar in a title match on the subsequent edition of Raw. Only days before they would do battle in the Money in the Bank Ladder match, both were looking to make a statement going into Sunday.

What started out as any ordinary TV title match turned into a clash for the ages. Both Barrett and Ziggler put it all on the line and pulled out all the stops for a strap that had been neglected for far too long.

For months, Ziggler had been overshadowed by every other Superstar on the roster, but on this night he showed the world what he was capable of. Meanwhile, Barrett was looking to prove how much that title meant to him and what he'd be willing to endure in order to keep it.

With what was quite possibly the most impactful Bull Hammer Elbow the England native has ever delivered, Barrett beat Ziggler and walked away with the title intact, but only after Ziggler had earned his respect.

1. Bad News Barrett vs. Sheamus (Raw: April 14, 2014)

Honestly, you could put any of the million matches Barrett and Sheamus have had together at the top of this list, but to me their most important match came on the April 14, 2014 edition of Raw.

After months of delivering "bad news" from a heightened podium, Barrett finally returned to the ring one night removed from WrestleMania 30, making quick work of Rey Mysterio. Fans figured he'd be an undercard act from that point forward, but his match against Sheamus the following week on Raw would prove otherwise.

As noted, Barrett and Sheamus have had so many matches against each other that you'd think they'd get old after a while. Oddly enough, that has yet to be the case.

Natural enemies from where they hail (England and Ireland, respectively), the two Europeans have never held back from giving one another their all, brutalizing their bodies with their hard-hitting, highly physical styles. Both enjoy inflicting pain on others, so it comes as no surprise that their matches are always entertaining to watch.

Even as "Bad News" Barrett, the NXT Season 1 winner proved he wasn't one to be taken lightly in his match against Sheamus. With a future shot at the Intercontinental Championship at stake, neither guy was going down without a fight.

Sheamus came close to putting Barrett away, but all it took was one Bull Hammer Elbow from Barrett to give him his first clean victory over The Celtic Warrior.

Why these two have yet to engage in a one-on-one rivalry remains a mystery.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website at Next Era Wrestling and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

Follow @WrestleRant