WWE commentator Wade Barrett has opened up about the current WWE management, noting that it’s a sea change from when he was an active star.

Barrett, in his recent interview with Sam Roberts on the “Notsam Wrestling” podcast, contrasted his fortunes in WWE after the end of Nexus, where he had a huge dip in his WWE status when he portrayed the Bad News Barrett character. He discussed whether he offers advice to young WWE stars who have been called up to the main roster from “NXT” to help temper their expectations owing to his experience. Barrett believes that WWE stars are in much safer hands now than when he was wrestling, which is down to the change in management.

“So I think — as controversial as this might sound, and I’m trying to be diplomatic here — I think management today are a lot better than they were back in my day in the ring. And I think when a certain superstar, whoever it may be, has some momentum, I think the emphasis from management and creative these days is to continue to build upon that momentum. Whereas that was not the attitude back in the era that we are referring to, when I was in Nexus. So, I think there is a significant change there,” he said. “So, I’m not going up to the young guys [saying] ‘Hey guys, trust me, you think your dreams are getting made now? They’re going to get ruined. Oh, this business will break your heart, kid. Trust me on that.’ I’m not doing that.”

Barrett joked that he wondered if he should run the business down for these younger stars, adding that he would reserve that for when he gets fired by WWE and starts his own podcast. Several stars who have worked under both Vince McMahon and Triple H, like CM Punk and Carlito, have preferred working under the latter to the former, which validates the claims made by Barrett.