Barrett Injured

I was going to talk about Wade Barrett again eventually. I was waiting to see how the WWE would treat him heading into Wrestlemania. In case you didn't see the spot involving Big Show, Ziggler, Barrett, and R-Truth on Raw, it was a mess. Wade Barrett injured his shoulder. He will most likely miss competing at Wrestlemania. And it does look like a very serious injury. Best wishes to him.

What would I have said had he not gotten this injury? Two scenarios to look at. First, the WWE builds him well for a potential victory in the Money in the Bank match that might be happening. Barrett definitely would have had the credibility for the win, especially off that feud he had with Orton. Second, Barrett is not featured prominently in whatever match he will be in at the PPV. In that situation, you basically have what happened with Kofi Kingston and his feud with Orton a few years ago. Kofi looked impressive, but there was really nowhere for him to go after that. He got lost in the shuffle. If you look at what happened with Barrett in the time between the feud with Orton ending and now, it seemed like he got lost in the shuffle himself. Obviously, not a punishment. The major title issues heading into Elimination Chamber just didn't really revolve around him too much. That is why I wanted to wait to see how the WWE handled him after that PPV. And now, nothing epic from him at Wrestlemania at all.

When he does return in a few months, he will obviously get some kind of push back. The WWE has to like what they see in him. They have been building him up great for a while. Will they shoot him the title right away? Probably not. Does his injury really screw over what is going on right now? I don't think so. Nevertheless, Smackdown will have to go without a good heel upper-midcarder for a while. Who steps up?