Former WWE superstar Wade Barrett has spoken glowingly of two-time Cruiserweight champion Neville and says his versatility makes him a perfect fit for any promotion in the world.



The two Brits had a back and forth feud a few years back, with Barrett winning the 2015 King of the Ring tournament in the final against 'The Man That Gravity Forgot'.

Check out our interview with The Hardy Boyz:



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Both talents had previously been tipped to become the first ever British world champion in WWE, but despite having solid careers, neither were given a permanent spot in the main event.

Neville made 205 Live and the Cruiserweight division must-watch when he had a change of attitude and produced some of the finest heel work in recent years.

However, reportedly disillusioned with his spot, the jumping Geordie hasn't been seen on WWE TV since October and it doesn't look like he will be returning anytime soon - with the likelihood being that his contract with the company will be allowed to run out.

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In SPORTbible's last in-depth chat with Barrett, now using real name 'Stu Bennett' in his role as Defiant Wrestling's General Manager, he picked out Neville as the most underrated wrestler he had shared a locker room with - and he continued to sing the 31-year old's praises this time around.





"Neville for sure is in my top three opponents of all-time," he said prior to Defiant Wrestling's 'Chain Reaction' pay-per-view at Bowlers Exhibition Centre on Sunday.

"When I saw my name against him, it was almost like I knew I could go asleep during that match because everything he does is amazing.

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"I think a lot of people look at Neville think, 'Oh he's that high-flying guy who does all the flips', but literally everything he does, from even the most basic stuff, locking up, tying up, the way he moves around the ring; the way he reacts to anything I do to him and sells my stuff is always incredible so he's one of the best in-ring guys ever."

Bennett knows a thing or two about being misused in WWE and his momentum being squashed - the Bad News gimmick getting plenty of reactions but ultimately being killed by the powers that be.





Asked whether he feels the company purposely halt the pushes of certain performers reaching for that brass ring, he had the following insight to give:

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"They [WWE] misuse a lot of guys, there's a lot of guys you could do more with but at the end of the day they pick the guys they want to go with and go with them.

"I don't think they purposely sabotage, I think there are limited spots to be at the top of the card or the highlighted guys - there are probably seven or eight guys where it's like, 'Ok these are our main guys going forward for the next six to twelve months' and they need to be the guys getting the biggest reactions, being involved in the biggest storylines and stuff like that.

"So if there's a guy who is getting bigger reactions than them, then I think there is an attempt to, I'm sure, make that reaction transfer on to the guys they are going with - the guys they want to push. There are just a limited number of spots, that's the issue. You can't have everyone in those spots."

With Neville looking like he's on his way out, it's popular opinion that the former NXT champ has the capacity to take a leaf out of the book of Drew McIntyre, who was released in 2014 but completely rebuilt his brand on the independent circuit to the point where WWE had no choice but to re-sign him after three years away.

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Bennett concurs that his former rival is perfectly equipped to do great things no matter where he ends up next.

"He's good enough to do whatever he wants," he added.

"He is a very rare performer where in WWE he absolutely fits the bill, in Japan he would fit the bill, in PWG he would fit the bill and in Brian Dixon's All-Star wrestling he would fit the bill.

"He's somebody that is literally so talented he can do anything he wants. If he did make the decision to move on from WWE - I have no idea if he will or not - he can do whatever he wants to do."