WWE Night of Champions Preview: 10 Ways Wade Barrett Can Win the Title

On June 1, Wade Barrett became winner of the first season of NXT, allowing him the opportunity for a Championship match at the Pay Per View of his choosing.  Like most of us, I assumed Barrett would slowly become acclimated into the Raw roster, gain wins over opponents like Evan Bourne and Zack Ryder, achieve a level of credibility, and after a couple of PPV cycles announce his choice of PPV for his guaranteed championship match.  June 7th came, and nothing like that happened.  Without warning or spoiler out there in the IWC, the group which became Nexus came out and for 10 minutes left the WWE Universe feeling something it hadn't felt in a very long time-- speechless.  The ring was destroyed, Cena was decimated, and we witnessed the highest level of violence seen since the PG era began.  And it was good!  Not for the violence but for the shock of the entire display.  Creative pulled a fast one over us, and frankly, most of us were impressed.

Weeks went by, Bryan Danielson was fired over Tiegate, and Nexus contined their same strategy of surround and conquer.  After weeks, it became rather boring and repetitive.  By the middle of July, and two PPVs later, Summerslam's main event created the make or break opportunity for the Nexus angle.  A 7-man team of WWE Superstars vs. the 7-man team of Nexus.  It had to deliver, or the angle would fall apart.  And in August deliver it did, but again not the way anybody had predicted.  After trouble finding a 7th member for Team WWE, Bryan Danielson, AKA Daniel Bryan, made a surprise appearance in the main event, joining team WWE and taking out 3 members in the elimination match himself.  Nexus lost, but after weeks of attacks and carnage wrought by the group, that should come as no surprise.  Still, Nexus began to cement its look as 'weak', and something needed to happen.  After a series of matches on Raw, Darren Young was eliminated from the group.  While on tour overseas, Nexus powerhouse Skip Sheffield, arguably the Second in Command, broke his ankle and was taken out of action.  The Nexus storyline seems to be falling apart right now, so it seems time to book the inevitable.

After a series of matches to determine the Number One Contender for the WWE Championship, Shaemus hand picked Zack Ryder and the new NOC, subsequently beating him in 6 seconds.  Barrett came out to then challenge Shaemus at Night of Champions.  But Creative couldn't possibly have a main event by a 'rookie' and a paper champion on a PPV, so a 6-pack challenge was created, bringing in John Cena, Chris Jericho, Edge, and Randy Orton into the main event picture.  Again though, we find ourselves at the make or break moment for the Nexus angle.  The group is starting to splinter off into singles matches, most impressively being the Justin Gabriel/John Cena match from last week, and the group can gain its mojo again, but only if Barrett wins the WWE Championship.  Can he do it?  Here are 10 ways he can:

10) Cleanly

Barrett is a powerhouse, and his fireman's carry slam known as the wasteland tookout the Undertaker a couple of weeks ago.  Barrett can easily pull off a simple one-two-three just by beating the competition....

....or not.  The match stipulations themselves, with 6 wrestlers going at it at once, pretty much guarantees the win-- no matter who it is-- will not be 'clean' in any meaningful sense of the word.  More probable alternatives include...

9) The Sneak Pin

This is the standard win for any match involving more than two wrestlers wrestling at the same time.  One person pulls off the finishing move, only to be kicked in the head and scooted out of the way to allow for the easy pin.  Simple, but effective.  Edge built a Championship resume off of it, and Barrett could easily do the same for his first.

8) Interference from....

Besides the Sneak Pin, the most obvious way Barrett will win is through interference.  Matches like this are generally seen as no-disqualification, given the match requires a person to be pinned or submit (anybody else find it strange you never see a Kendo Stick in a Triple Threat??  Anyway...), guaranteeing interference of some sort will take place.  I see a few sources here:

7) Chris Jericho

Rumors are going around that Jericho is going to take quite a bit of time off very soon to be with family and work on his music career.  Last week, the GM gave Jericho a match to redeem his walking out the week prior.  The only stipulation was that if he lost the match, he was out of Night of Champions. 

He lost.  To John Morrison. 

This sets up a Jericho who is alienated from the WWE with nothing to lose.  Given Barrett was his former rookie on NXT, it would be no surprise to me if we see Jericho involved in the match somehow

6) Nexus

You can guarantee we will see Nexus get involved as well.  Nexus is booked as a unit, and there is no way we will see Barrett in a match without their presence felt somewhere.  The announce team is big on "The Numbers' Game", and they are right in that Barrett has the number's advantage going into Night of Champions.  How will we see Nexus involved?

5) The Beatdown

With 4 or them available, it's very easy to see the group come out, attempt to decimate the competition on the outside, and just throw one in for Barrett to pin.  It's their strategy, and so far, it works.

4) Help from "Genesis"??

Still, with Young out of the group and Sheffield out, a 4 on 4 beatdown doesn't sound like how Nexus operates.  Enter Genesis.  Here we have a group of 6 fresh rookies looking to make an impact as well, creating a 10 on 4 situation that sits much better with the Nexus strategy.  Will we see them scratch the back of Barrett?  The answer depends on whether Alex Riley can keep telling himself, "Don't hit the big-eared White guy.  Don't hit the big-eared White guy."

3) Recruits?

It's possible there are those disinterested with the WWE machine in the locker room that they'd be willing to betray their group to gain Barrett the gold.  It would provide a great heel push for Superstars like Bourne or Morrison, and would be one of the biggest surprises of the summer.

2) Any or all of the above

I expect to see any of these play out, some more than others, and in varying combinations.  We know Nexus will get involved, and we can almost be certain Jericho will as well.  A beatdown will happen, and I wouldn't rule out a locker room runout with some of our crowd favorites changing sides.  The biggest factor, though, may come from this highest source of power on RAW...

1) The Anonymous GM

Time has come for the Anonymous GM to make their presence felt.  The Macbook gag is getting old for most people, and an alignment with the GM and Nexus would be great for both storylines.  The GM has shown favoritism or leniency toward the group over the last few months, from granting them contracts, slapping their wrists slightly after the McMahon beatdown, or setting up the scenario where neither WWE or Nexus could fight each other one night which lead to the beatdown of Ricky Steamboat.  The GM has been light with the group, and I think will eventually align themselves with the group, and the time is ripe for this moment to happen.  Whether it's HHH, Michael Cole, or even Goldberg, we really can't go another PPV cycle without seeing the Wizard of Oz.

Conclusion:

We also can't go another PPV cycle without something definitive happening within Nexus.  The group has lost members, and booking has been sporadic at best over the last few months.  A group that made such an initial impact deserves to not merely fizzle out yet.  Barrett needs to win the Championship, or this group and angle has lost all of its momentum.  

What say you, Bleacher Report?  How do you see Barrett's chances of winning the Belt?