Wade Barrett describe the moment as the ‘most embarrassing’ of his career (Picture: WWE)
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry was ‘very upset’ with Wade Barrett after he nearly injured them both in an almost costly mistake.
The Preston-born star, who now serves as a commentator on SmackDown after winning the Intercontinental Championship five times during his in-ring career, admitted he was mortified after the unfortunate mishap shortly after debuting as the Nexus in 2010.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk via AceOdds, he recalled: ‘Mark Henry, 400 pounds, fantastic human being, great performer, locker room legend, a guy that a lot of people looked up to as a leader and I was the new guy coming in and I had to go and have a match with Mark Henry.
‘Now my old finisher was called The Wasteland and it was a fireman’s carry where I’d kind of flip them off onto their back afterwards. I was used to doing that against guys who were about at most 250, 260 pounds, something like that.
‘Mark Henry was way too big and I didn’t want to do it. But at the time management was insisting, “Here’s how you make a huge impact Wade, we need you to do this”. “I don’t want to do it guys”. “Too bad, you have to do it.”‘
Despite Barrett, Henry and the producer for the match all being against it, the Englishman was forced to hoist the Worlds Strongest Man up on his shoulders during the bout.
Barrett dropped Mark Henry on live television (Picture: WWE)
‘We tried it during the day, it worked pretty well. And then we tried it in the match and it did not work well,’ he said, admitting it was almost disastrous.
He added: ‘I almost broke my spine, I landed Mark on top of his head, and he was very upset with me afterwards and this was on live TV, getting beamed around the world.’
The 43-year-old veteran admitted it was ‘highly embarrassing’, particularly when he was a relative newcomer in the world of WWE, having only recently been promoted from then-developmental league FCW.
The Worlds Strongest Man was furious after the incident (Picture: WWE)
‘It is the new guy coming in trying to make himself good with the world of wrestling in the locker room and veterans like Mark Henry and I came in and dropped him on his head,’ he said. ‘So yeah, very embarrassing.’
Thankfully, Barrett was able to move on from that and enjoy a successful career, and despite having moments where he wished WWE had pushed him to the next level, now he has ‘no regrets’.
‘Once I cooled down and left for a little while, I realised, wow, that was actually a really good career,’ he pondered, admitting he often wonders about ‘really talented’ people in his class at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) who didn’t get the same opportunities.
Barrett can now be seen commentating with Corey Graves every Friday night (Picture: WWE)
He added: ‘Statistically, when you look at some of the things I achieved, and the main event in Summer Slam, and the main event in Survivor Series, winning championships and being a focal point of TV on numerous occasions, I can look back pretty proudly on it.
‘There’s always those little pieces that I wish I’d done, but regret isn’t the right word. I’m actually quite grateful and thankful for the experiences that I’ve had in this industry and the experiences I continue to get now working as a commentator.’
Despite being happy with his role alongside Corey Graves on SmackDown, Barrett admitted he would be open to another match if it ‘made sense’.
He nearly returned to the ring for the NWA when now-SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis approached him about working together, but it wasn’t to be.
His decision to sign with NXT halted plans for an in ring return (Picture: WWE)
‘Very quickly after that conversation happened, I’d say within two or three weeks, the pandemic hit, the world got shut down, NWA shut down for the best part of 12 months,’ he explained.
‘By the time it all kind of fired up again, I’d been picked up by WWE. So very brief conversations, maybe at some point in the future, we’ll see how things turn out.’
He added: ‘I’m fit and healthy, if something came up where, ‘Okay, there’s a match here, would you be interested in doing it?’ If it makes sense to me and I was excited to do it, absolutely, I could.’
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on TNT Sports 1. Money In The Bank airs Saturday, July 6 at 1am on the WWE Network.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.