Bad News Barrett injured at WWE SmackDown taping; status for Money in the Bank in doubt

Earlier this evening, rumors weren't floating about that Bad News Barrett had suffered some sort of shoulder injury at tonight's SmackDown taping in Pittsburgh. Because no one could confirm as much, there was no reason to pass the information along.

We may have also been holding out hope that it was kayfabed.

It wasn't.

Indeed, WWE.com has confirmed that Barrett did, in fact, suffer a separated shoulder and his status for this coming Sunday night's (June 29, 2014) Money in the Bank pay-per-view (PPV) in Boston is now in doubt.

"After Barrett felt an immediate pain and a pop," continued Amann, "we brought him back to the training room and the exam showed a separated shoulder. We're going to do some additional testing this week and then sit down with him and talk about options for treatment for this injury."

Barrett, the current Intercontinental champion, was scheduled to be one of the seven participants in the Money in the Bank contract ladder match this weekend. Considering the injury, don't be surprised if a replacement is announced sooner rather than later.

This is doubly unfortunate because Barrett was really starting to catch on with his "Bad News" character.

Here's to hoping he recovers quickly and doesn't miss a beat.