Wade Barrett returned to WWE this week as an addition to the commentary table on NXT television, likely filling in for Mauro Ranallo. He’ll reprise that same role on next week’s (Sept. 1) broadcast, because it’s part of the same set of tapings. As far as we know, his current announcing gig with WWE doesn’t include any dates beyond these shows.
But WWE’s web site is making some curious moves to highlight a superstar who is supposedly only around for a couple shows. First, Barrett was added to the current “Superstars” section of the web site, as you can see in this picture:
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Second, Barrett’s bio on his superstar profile page now includes this paragraph:
“Then, after being away from WWE for several years, Barrett reemerged as a color analyst on the Aug. 26, 2020 edition of NXT! As someone who clearly loves the sound of his own voice, Barrett should fit right in on the black-and-gold brand.”
Is it really necessary to speculate on how Barrett will fit in with the NXT brand if he is only around for a couple weeks?
Finally, WWE just posted this photo gallery of him.
Add it all up, and this looks to me like a situation where Barrett will be sticking around for a while.
Let me know how good or bad my detective work is in the comments below, Cagesiders.