UPDATED @ 3:50 PM ET
Wade Barrett has issued a statement that he has been given time off (booked nine-months ago), from his commentary role and will be back in business after that.
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-Original report @1:30 PM ET-
Following the announcement on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, that Michael Cole and Corey Graves would be the new commentary team for the foreseeable future, per a new report from PWInsider Elite, Wade Barrett will be “off the road going forward” and is not going to be moving to the Raw commentary team.
The change has led to much speculation that Barrett’s removal could be related to recent comments he made about Nikki Bella during the WWE Clash in Paris Countdown Show, in which he gave his opinion on Nikki who was challenging Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Title on the show. Barrett said that the WWE’s women’s division may have passed Nikki by over these past years since she has last been a regular competitor in the ring.
Nikki said on last Wednesday’s Nikki and Brie Show that Barrett avoided her on Monday’s Raw which was shocking because he always goes up to her and says hi. She also added that he tried to avoid making eye contact with her in the hallway. Nikki then went on to talk about how Michael Cole is one of the greatest commentators and knows how to tell a story. Following her comments on Cole, Nikki then pivoted back to addressing Barrett, saying she watched the pre-show and what Barrett had said about her and that it was fine.
Barrett then made a comment on X, regarding the situation saying he had no idea that Nikki felt the way she did and was happy to have a conversation with her and wish that she would have brought it up when they said hello to each other at Raw, rather than on her podcast. He then closed by saying he did not understand the avoiding claim and that its was “simply not true.”
Barrett then posted to X recently that he and Nikki spoke about the issue and smoothed things over, further noting he has been graciously allowed back into the Bella Army.
At the time of this writing, the reason for Barrett’s removal is. We will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.