Under the Wade Barrett name, Bennett won the first season of NXT in 2010 and made his main roster debut on Raw later that year. He rose to prominence as the leader of The Nexus, a villainous faction composed of the remaining NXT first-season rookies. He headlined five PPV events for WWE in 2010—SummerSlam, Night of Champions, Bragging Rights, Survivor Series, and TLC—three of which saw him unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE Championship. He later formed The Corre, a short-lived group with former Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, along with Ezekiel Jackson in 2011. After they disbanded, he would go on to become a five-time Intercontinental Champion.

In 2013, Barrett's ring name was changed to Bad News Barrett and he adopted the character of a man who took pleasure in breaking bad news to other people. In 2015, he won the 20th King of the Ring tournament, at which point his ring name was changed to King Barrett. He notably portrayed a villain for his entire WWE career, regardless of the other changes to his character. He has not wrestled since leaving WWE in May 2016, though he has appeared in non-wrestling roles on the international independent circuit, such as a commentator for World of Sport Wrestling and a general manager for Defiant Wrestling under his real name. He made his acting debut in the thriller film Dead Man Down (2013) and has since starred in films such as Eliminators (2016), I Am Vengeance (2018), and I Am Vengeance: Retaliation (2020). He returned to WWE as a commentator in August 2020.