WWE superstar to fight Intercontinental Champion at Colonial Life Arena Saturday
He circles the ring in a skimpy navy blue speedo, hands stretched out above his slicked-back, jet black hair. A stitched Union Jack replaces a belt buckle on the risque and revealing ensemble, and multi-colored tattoos — one of Manic Street Preachers lyrics — decorate bulging biceps.
It’s the Barrett Barrage.
Wade Barrett, a veteran in the WWE wrestling ring, will take on Kofi Kingston in the Intercontinental Championship Match Saturday at the Colonial Life Arena as part of the Smackdown World Tour.
Stuart Bennett, who has adopted the moniker Wade Barrett in WWE, was born and raised in Wales and began his career as a bare-knuckle boxer when he was 22-years-old. He went to the University of Liverpool, graduated with a degree in marine biology and held a few jobs in the field before making the switch to professional wrestling.
But it was in college that Barrett read Mick Foley’s (a former WWE wrestler) autobiography and knew that he wanted to pursue the glamorous and spotlighted side of the sport.
In May 2010, Barrett won the first season of WWE’s NXT, which awarded him a full-time contract with the organization. Since then, he’s shaped his overblown and outspoken ring persona into the Barrett Barrage — a much more aggressive one than the man that started off bare-knuckle boxing for small crowds of 50 people or less in England, he said.
“It needs to be a little larger-than-life. People who watch don’t want to see the guy who lives next door,” Barrett said.
His signature closing move has been coined “The Bull Hammer” — a knock-out elbow — and his mean mug has grown, well, meaner.
“If we were like that in real life, we would be arrested and thrown in jail,” Barrett said. “It is my true personality — just turned up a few notches.”
He’s seemingly invincible: a 6-foot-7-inch, 32-year-old man armed with black wrist-tape and a killer accent. But in February, he partially dislocated his elbow in a fight. How did he get injured?
“A 7-foot giant threw a guy on top of me,” Barrett said. “It was miserable.”
It was, to be clear, Big Show who threw Dolph Ziggler.
During his time out of the ring, the suave star snagged a roll in WWE’s “Dead Man Down.” It will be released March 8. He’s also been crowned No. 31 in WWE.com’s list of the “The 50 most beautiful people in sports-entertainment history.”
“If you’ve ever seen my face — I have a broken nose and cauliflower ears. It doesn’t say much about the guys above me,” Barrett said.
He did contact Loreal Paris on Saturday, in regards to his ranking, tweeting, “I’m available for sponsorship.”
But Barrett is ready to reclaim his territory in the game, away from the Hollywood glitz and most-beautiful rankings, and take the belt in Saturday night’s championship. He held the Intercontinental Champion title — one that’s been around for 33 years, he said — until last year, when he lost it to Ezekiel Jackson. He is confident he’ll get it back in Columbia.
The main attraction on Saturday’s tour stop will be South Carolina-native Big Show’s (the 7-foot giant) fight against “Celtic Warrior” Sheamus. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets start at $17 and go up to $97. Students, with a valid ID, can get a $17 ticket for $12.