WWE Survivor Series 2011: Why Wade Barrett Must Leave MSG Victorious

Wade Barrett exploded onto WWE television as a part of NXT Season One. He won that competition and, in the summer of 2010, debuted on Raw. He brought with him the rest of the NXT competitors, leading them in the faction known as Nexus. For months, he was a featured talent on Raw and, at this time last November, was gearing up for his first WWE Championship match at Survivor Series against "The Viper," Randy Orton.

Somewhere along the line, Barrett lost the confidence of the creative team and was de-pushed. He fell down the card, to the point that he was on a major losing streak that was not broken until this past August, at SummerSlam, with a win over Daniel Bryan.

Since then, the creative team has reinvested its time and energy in pushing Barrett back up the card. An impressive match and win over Randy Orton on the November 11 edition of SmackDown indicated that they are serious about elevating the legitimately tough Brit back to the main event. That is why the booking of Wade Barrett at Survivor Series on November 20 at Madison Square Garden is so important.

Wade Barrett must be the sole survivor in this traditional elimination tag match. There truly is no other alternative if the fans are expected to invest in his main event push once again. Ideally, Barrett would manage to pin both Randy Orton and Sheamus, two of the more popular, heavily pushed babyfaces in the company. It would give Wade instant and increased credibility and would remind fans why he was considered one of the hot, young up-and-comers as little as a year ago.

If Barrett wins the match with one of the his partners surviving with him, it becomes a case of "they only won because they had a numbers advantage." If he loses, he is simply another heel from SmackDown who was pushed for a month and sacrificed.

Luckily for Barrett, he is on the SmackDown brand, where Randy Orton seems to be far more open to putting young talent over than John Cena currently is on Raw. In the last three months, Orton has strongly put over Mark Henry as world heavyweight champion and helped elevate Cody Rhodes to relevance. If Orton could do the same for Barrett, who has a larger upside than either of the previously mentioned superstars, Wade would once again enjoy the success he had so early in his WWE career.

But the entire Wade Barrett re-push hinges on the fans buying him as a credible main-event talent. That will not work if he fails on the big stage.