Wade Barrett Shuts Down Rumors About His Removal From Smackdown Commentary Team

Wade Barrett found himself in a land of controversy after he made some in-character remarks against Nikki Bella during Clash in Paris’ pre-show. For those who don’t know, Barrett said that Bella is “desperate to prove she still has it against this new generation that has changed the game.”

And Bella didn’t like his comments, and claimed that Barrett was avoiding her on the next Raw after this when she wanted to talk on the Nikki & Brie Show. When Barrett heard about this, he publicly denied avoiding her at all and even said he’s ready to have a chat with her.

Eventually, both talked behind the scenes, and it seems like the misunderstanding is now resolved between the two. Interestingly enough, there was another report that said Barrett is no longer a part of SmackDown’s commentary team, and some people linked this to the Nikki Bella controversy.

Nikki Bella & Wade Barrett Squashed Their Beef

She was already facing backlash for publicly bringing up a topic when she could have privately discussed it with Wade. Barrett later provided an update on the situation on his X account and said he and Nikki talked and “we’ve smoothed things over.”

PWInsider Elite then reported that Barrett will be taking a break from calling SmackDown, and they asked if Nikki was the reason, but couldn’t get a confirmation. Wade’s colleague, Joe Tessitore, is also taking a break from WWE to college football on ESPN. Their report said:

Wade Barrett will be off the road going forward for a bit PWInsiderElite.com has been told. He will not be calling Raw either so its not a commentary change.

Some have asked if this is fallout of Barrett’s comments about Nikki Bella at the Clash in Paris event pre-show, but we haven’t confirmed that is the case and I don’t believe to be the case. Bella noted on her podcast she wasn’t thrilled about Barrett’s comments about her age at that show and stated he “avoided” her at Raw. Barrett stated on Twitter he didn’t avoid her and would happy to speak with her then noted that they had spoken and the issue was squashed.

Wade Barrett Says He Is Only Taking A Personal Break

WrestleOps published this story on their X account, and considering many fans were targeting Nikki for his removal, the former wrestler clarified this was not true. He’s only taking time off due to personal reasons, and that he asked for this break 9 months back. Some fans are speculating this means he is on paternity leave, but Wade hasn’t confirmed this himself.

“I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it’s causing needless hate to be spewed towards people I work with. WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time (booked nine months ago), and then I’m back to business as usual. A complete non-story. The end.” (Wade Barrett said on X)

Wade Barrett is considered one of the best color commentators in wrestling today. He was previously a full-time wrestler until 2016, and became a commentator in 2020. Going forward, the SmackDown commentary team will consist of Michael Cole and Corey Graves, who are also part of Raw’s broadcast team.

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