TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
King Barrett: eyes ultimate WWE prize
Back off: The umpire has to prevent King Barret from attacking his floored opponent
Change Size
Back off: The umpire has to prevent King Barret from attacking his floored opponent.
In today's pro-wrestling industry, Stuart Alexander Bennett, popularly known by his ring name King Barrett, has become one of the most prominent and most celebrated figures.
Born in Penwortham, Lanchashire, England, on Aug. 10, 1980, Barrett has chosen a very unusual sporting career path for a Briton. While most British kids dream of becoming soccer players or boxers, Barrett set his eyes on becoming a pro-wrestler in his early childhood.
Barrett's passion for the sports-entertainment performance art started when he was around 7 years old, when he watched his first pro-wrestling match.
'I was obsessed with the crazy characters, the showmanship, the storylines and the athleticism,' Barrett told The Jakarta Post in a recent phone interview.
'I got hooked on it. Growing up, I always dreamed of being a wrestler.'
Barrett's inspiration during his childhood years was the late Davey Boy Smith, also known as the British Bulldog, arguably the greatest pro-wrestler ever to have come from England.
The journey to becoming a pro-wrestler turned out to be a tough one for the young Barrett. It seemed that pro-wrestling was not a career path meant for him during the early part of his adult life.
After graduating from high school, Barrett enrolled at the University of Liverpool, where he earned a degree in marine biology.
Unusually for a student at a prestigious university, Barrett's time in Liverpool was filled with bruises and scars. He became involved in the bare-knuckle underworld boxing scene and fought all over Europe.
Barrett's career in bare-knuckle boxing left him with a disfigured broken nose and a 12-inch scar on his back, which he got after being stabbed with an eight-inch blade by an assailant looking to steal his prize money after he defeated a respected opponent.
'I was never really sure what I was going to be when I was younger [....] but ultimately I have always wanted to be a WWE superstar,' Barrett said as he talked about his past.
The hardships that Barrett faced during his younger years turned out to be a blessing in disguise for his pro-wrestling career, helping him and the WWE to develop and build his charismatic and captivating in-ring character.
Barrett started to fully focus on chasing his pro-wrestling dream at the age of 21. He was trained under the mentorship of British pro-wrestler Jon Ritchie and former WWE superstar Al Snow and after three years of training, he fought his first professional match under the ring name Stu Sanders.
After spending 2005 competing in various pro-wrestling promotions throughout the UK, Barrett decided in 2006 to head to the US, where the big boys play and legends are made.
Barrett failed his initial tryout with the WWE, but managed to secure a spot in the company's then developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in 2007.
In 2010, the WWE began to introduce Barrett into its main roster, casting him and several other wrestlers from developmental promotions to participate in the first season of NXT, a pro-wrestling reality show that aimed to give airtime to young talents and introduce them to fans.
During Barrett's time in the NXT, at the advice of the late great WWE Hall of Fame Dusty Rhodes, he began incorporating his hardened past as a bare knuckle boxer into his in-ring character and gimmick.
Barrett's character employs strength, arrogance and cunning in equal measure. He is also imbued with confidence and eloquence, character traits that have propelled him, a cocky and tough young Briton, to the top ranks of the WWE roster.
'The guy in the ring is very violent,' Barrett said.
He has spent most of his career in the WWE playing the bad guy, known in wrestling terms as the heel ' and he is indeed a very good heel. He is the kind of heel who can inspire burning hatred, yet affection and respect at the same time, from fans.
His in-ring persona helped Barrett to kick-off his WWE career with a bang, being named the first ever NXT winner. In just five years in the WWE main roster, he has found himself constantly involved in numerous main storylines and feuds against the company's top superstars like John Cena, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan.
In terms of individual accomplishments, Barrett has become arguably the most successful UK-born professional wrestler in history. He has captured the Intercontinental Title as many as five times, surpassing his childhood idol's accomplishment, and won the King Of The Ring tournament in 2015, beating fellow Englishman Benjamin 'Neville' Satterley in the final.
Barrett's victory in the King Of The Ring earned him a great deal of respect from the WWE. The tournament had opened doors for past winners like 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Paul 'Triple H' Michael Levesque to win the WWE World Championship, the only title never captured by an English wrestler.
'That is definitely a goal of mine to the World Championship,' Barrett said regarding his future ambitions.
'I need more time and I will wait for my opportunity and that is where I am at right now.'
Getting to where he is now has been tough for Barrett, but staying in the top ranks is even tougher.
Like all successful pro-wrestlers, Barrett has endured numerous injuries, such as a partially dislocated elbow that kept him out of action for nearly seven months in 2012. In addition to physical injuries, Barrett must also spend nearly 300 days a year on the road away from his loved ones to entertain WWE fans.
With no pension funds or insurance in case of an in-ring mishap, one might wonder what keeps performers like Barrett wrestling.
'Ultimately, it is passion. That is what drove the majority of the WWE superstars to sustain the difficulties,' he said.
All photos courtesy of © 2015 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved
_______________________________________
King Barrett is set to compete against Dolph Ziggler in the upcoming WWE tour in Singapore on July 2. Tickets are available online at www.sportshubtix.sg
