Tag: stu bennett

Report: Wade Barrett negotiating full-time commentary deal with WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It appears that Wade Barrett’s return to WWE may be a long-term one.

PWInsider reported today that, after appearing as part of the commentary team for last week’s NXT, Barrett (real name Stu Bennett) “met with WWE officials and is currently negotiating a full-time return to the company as an announcer.”

Barrett called last week’s NXT with Vic Joseph and Beth Phoenix and will also be on commentary for the episode of NXT that’s airing this Tuesday. He tweeted last Thursday: “Thank you for all of the nice messages about my return to @WWENXT. Crazy couple of days, but I enjoyed it so much, I’ll be back for #NXTSuperTuesday next week! Shout out to @VicJosephWWE @TheBethPhoenix and @TomPhillipsWWE for taking it easy on the new kid.”

PWInsider’s report stated that Barrett’s appearances on commentary for NXT were pretty much a feeling out process to see if he and WWE were interested in working together going forward. It also stated that “there was talk over the last few days that [Barrett] could perhaps be plugged into NXT UK as an announcer.”

Last week’s NXT was Barrett’s first appearance for WWE since departing the company in 2016. Barrett (using his real name) joined the NWA’s commentary team in December 2019.

Wade Barrett doing commentary for WWE NXT this week

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A former WWE wrestler is returning as part of the commentary team for this week’s NXT tapings.

Pro Wrestling Sheet reported today that Stu Bennett (formerly known as Wade Barrett in WWE) will be doing commentary for NXT this week. Bennett departed WWE in 2016.

“Sources tell us this is just a one-shot deal for now and that the former leader of Nexus – who won the first original season of NXT – has not signed a full-time deal to re-join the company,” Pro Wrestling Sheet wrote.

Bennett joined the NWA’s commentary team in December 2019.

Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, and special guest Corey Graves were the commentators for NXT TakeOver XXX this past weekend. Mauro Ranallo didn’t call the event due to being back home with family in Canada.

Wednesday’s episode of NXT will feature the fallout from TakeOver XXX. Tommaso Ciampa, who hasn’t appeared on television since a post-match interview following his loss to Karrion Kross at TakeOver: In Your House this June, will return on the show.

Wade Barrett joins NWA commentary team, updated Into the Fire card

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The NWA has announced who will be replacing Jim Cornette on their commentary team.

At the end of tonight’s NWA Power episode, it was revealed that Stu Bennett (formerly known as Wade Barrett in WWE) will be joining the NWA commentary team at Into the Fire. He’ll be calling the pay-per-view with Joe Galli.

This week’s Power was the show’s season one finale, with new episodes set to resume on December 17. It was the last appearance by Cornette, who resigned from the NWA after the offensive comment he made on commentary on the Power episode that aired two weeks ago.

Into the Fire is taking place at GPB Studios in Atlanta on Saturday, December 14 and will be available via Fite TV. Two new title matches have been confirmed for the PPV. New NWA Tag Team Champions The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express will defend their titles against The Wild Cards, while Colt Cabana will defend his National Championship in a triple threat match against Aron Stevens and Ricky Starks.

The build to Nick Aldis and James Storm’s two-out-of-three falls NWA title match continued on tonight’s Power. It was set up that Aldis and Storm could each choose a referee for one of the falls. Storm chose Brian Hebner, while Aldis chose former NWA World Champion Tim Storm. Aldis also said that his manager Kamille would have the night off at Into the Fire.

Here’s the updated card for the PPV:

  • NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defending against James Storm in a two-out-of-three falls match
  • NWA Tag Team Champions The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) defending against The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs) 
  • NWA National Champion Colt Cabana defending against Aron Stevens and Ricky Starks in a triple threat match
  • Allysin Kay & Ashley Vox vs. two members of Melina’s stable (Melina, Thunder Rosa & Marti Belle)
  • Eli Drake vs. Ken Anderson
  • Trevor Murdoch vs. The Question Mark

WCPW rebranding as Defiant Wrestling, Wade Barrett to be new GM

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Following the departure of some of WhatCulture’s key staff members, What Culture Pro Wrestling will also be undergoing some changes before the end of the year.

The promotion announced today that they would be rebranding as Defiant Wrestling in December. The first show under the new name will be a live iPPV called “WeAreDefiant” on December 4th at the O2 Academy in Newcastle, which will air on their new Access Defiant on-demand service and will be available on the FITE app.

Stu Bennett, who was formerly known as Wade Barrett in WWE, was revealed to be the promotion’s new on-screen general manager after former authority figure Adam Blampied was among those to leave WhatCulture earlier this month. Bennett will open their Refuse to Lose iPPV broadcast on October 2nd, which will be the last show branded as a WCPW event.

Refuse to Lose will also be the last show offered on the WhatCulture Extra service, with old WCPW events moving to Access Defiant on December 1st and WhatCulture Extra continuing with other WhatCulture website content. Tapings for their “Loaded” YouTube show will take place in Manchester on October 3rd as well.

WCPW’s Twitter account noted that Defiant Wrestling will continue to broadcast a free weekly show on YouTube and wrote that more details on the rebrand will be made available in the coming weeks.

With backing from WhatCulture’s website, WCPW entered into the UK wrestling scene last year and regularly brought over big international names. Dave Meltzer chronicled some of the problems they’ve faced with their business model and YouTube’s demonetization of wrestling content in the September 25th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.