During his appearance on The Bump, Wade Barrett revealed that the happiest time in his career was his commentary days with Dusty Rhodes and Byron Saxton in FCW back in 2008 and 2009. Here’s what he had to say:
Yes, my initial avenue in the commentary world came in 2008 – 2009 in Florida Championship Wrestling in Tampa… I was wrestling in there with the likes of Sheamus and Drew McIntyre and quite a few others you see on your TV now.
At one point, Dusty Rhodes, who was the head of the creative team, decided that he liked the way I talked, and the way I presented [myself], so he threw me on the commentary team to see how I did. It was a sink or swim moment for me.Fortunately, I think I managed to swim. I was working alongside with Dusty and Byron Saxton. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I got a lot of great reports. But, word came down from WWE management that they loved my commentary, but they wanted me in the ring; they wanted me to continue my in-ring career. I always knew that one day, when I was done in the ring, I wanted to move back to the commentary role. [In] 2008 – 2009, that was the happiest period of my career.
Credit: The Bump. H/T WrestlingInc.