NXT Season 1 Winner: Wade Barrett
Finally, we have our winner from NXT Season 1 – Wade Barrett. Barrett was represented by WWE pro Chris Jericho. In his first match on NXT, Barrett would defeat Daniel Bryan in a match that lasted less than 3 minutes. Throughout the first season, Barrett would boast a record of six wins and five losses. For the first time in this entire article, we have a happy ending to a wrestler’s time on NXT Season 1 – Wade Barrett would take home the victory.
Barrett would debut on the WWE main roster as the leader of The Nexus. During this time, he would engage in highly entertaining feuds with John Cena and Randy Orton. However, he would be cast out from The Nexus following his loss to Cena at WWE TLC 2010. This would lead to Barrett moving to SmackDown and starting The Corre alongside former stablemates Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. The trio would also recruit the help of former WWE Intercontinental Champion, Ezekiel Jackson. This group would not last a full year. Barrett would leave the group later that year.
Barrett would go on to adopt the “Bad News Barrett” persona, which involved Barrett arriving onscreen to be the bearer of bad news. However, after a while, he would stop delivering bad news, yet keep the name. Barrett would eventually win the King of the Ring tournament, leading to him adopting the King gimmick. Throughout his time with the company, Barrett would win the WWE Intercontinental Championship five times. On May 6, 2016, following the breakup of the League of Nations (another stable Barrett had formed), Barrett was released from the WWE. He wrestled his final match on the April 4, 2016 edition of Raw where he and Sheamus would lose to Big E and Kofi Kingston in a WWE Tag Team Championship match.
After his release, Barrett began to focus prominently on his acting career. However, he would still find time to make appearances in WCPW/Defiant Wrestling, where he would serve as the on-screen general manager. He would also make appearances for WOS Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and NWA. On August 26, 2020, Barrett returned under his original ring name as a color commentator for NXT. You can still see Barrett live every Tuesday night on the USA Network representing the very show he first started on (although, a very different iteration).
With that, we end this Where Are They Now? article. Stay tuned for our recap of NXT’s second season soon!
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