Wade Barrett Says He’s Staying On Smackdown For the Foreseeable Future

Pat McAfee returned to WWE commentary at the Royal Rumble, but Wade Barrett says he is staying on Smackdown where McAfee had been for now. McAfee had stepped away from his WWE duties when he joined the team for ESPN College Gameday, with Barrett moving up from NXT to take his place on Smackdown. Barrett recently spoke with The Daily Star and said that for now, things aren’t changing.

“It’s as permanent as you can ever be in a role in WWE!” Barrett said of his Smackdown spot. “Historically things have always been switched around and teams have been moved from here to there, and I’m not saying I’m going to be in the SmackDown hot seat for the next ten years or anything like that. But in terms of the foreseeable, it’s going to be me and Cole going forward. Pat McAfee is always going to be a friend of WWE. He’s an incredibly talented guy and we’re all fans of his, too, but he has a lot on his plate. I am sure he’ll come in and out from time to time and be involved in various roles but, as far as I’m aware, he’s not going to be sat in the SmackDown hot seat for now at least.”

Barrett also noted that he has some outside projects coming up but is focused on WWE, saying, “I’m incredibly lucky to have the spot. It’s a spot I love. My addiction to WWE has come back, a hundred percent. I left in 2016 and was kind of down about the industry in general and walked away for a while. That love and passion for it has really come back so I see myself as a hundred percent full time back in WWE. I do have a couple of things bubbling over in terms of outside projects, but in terms of [being] focused, careerwise on WWE, that’s where I’m at right now.”