Bad News Barrett has set his sights on defeating Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules and he called "The Beard" a "paper champion."
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Bryan escaped WrestleMania 31 on March 29 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. with the belt after defeating the title-holder Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, R-Truth Stardust and Luke Harper in a seven-man Ladder Match.
Barrett sat down with Byron Saxton for a WWE exclusive interview and said until Bryan beats him one-on-one, he isn't the true champion.
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"It's been pointed out to me several times over the past week or so that I am now a former Intercontinental Champion," Barrett said. "Every time I hear that word, it stings. Daniel Bryan has my championship, but he's never beaten me. He won a multi-man matchup. He climbed up a ladder and stole my championship. If he wants to call himself the Intercontinental Champion, he needs to defeat me one-on-one. And until he does that, as far as I'm concerned, he's a paper champion. I'm the real champion. There's one true champ, me Bad News Barrett and I need to right this wrong."
He continued: "I'm a five-time Intercontinental Champion, okay? Every single time I've become the Intercontinental Champion, I've defeated the previous champion on my own in the middle of the ring one-on-one. I've left no doubt in anyone's mind who the real champion is, okay? Daniel Bryan hasn't done that. He took my title in a multi-man match by climbing up a ladder and stealing my title. A burglar could do that when he climbs in your bedroom window and steals your clock, okay? He's not the real champion."
Barrett also said it irked him to see former Intercontinental Champions-turned-Hall of Famers heap praise on Bryan.
"Here's another issue I have, I don't understand why Daniel Bryan gets preferential treatment in WWE," he said. "I don't understand why he even got a shot at my championship at WrestleMania in the first place. After WrestleMania, we saw Daniel Bryan in his first Intercontinental Championship reign getting a ticker tape parade. A whole who's who of former Intercontinental Champions waiting to pat him on the back, to congratulate him. Hall of Famers like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Bret "Hitman" Hart [and] Ricky Steamboat. They never patted my on the back, why are they waiting for him? Why is he getting the special treatment? It just doesn't make sense. I'm the five-time champion. That makes me five times better than him."
Barrett said Bryan is great in the ring, but he still has issues with him.
"I have no doubts about Daniel Bryan the competitor," he said. "What he's done in the past has been incredible. No one's questioning that, I'd be a fool to even doubt that. My problem is Daniel Bryan going around claiming that he is the Intercontinental Champion. He knows he isn't because he knows he hasn't beaten me, Bad News Barrett. I am the one true champ. I've said that and until he beats me, he will never be known as the Intercontinental Champion. That is my issue."
Lastly, Barrett said 76,000 people cheering for Bryan after winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31 isn't anything he cares about.
"It's not about being memorable," Barrett said. "It's about proving to everybody that you are the real Intercontinental Champion. I've never left anybody in any doubt when I won my championships why I'm No. 1. Daniel Bryan, he got very lucky. He had his moment at WrestleMania. 76,000 people, how could that fail to be memorable? I've never been that fortunate. I never got my opportunity at WrestleMania like Daniel Bryan did. You want a WrestleMania Moment? You want something memorable? I'll give Daniel Bryan something very memorable at Extreme Rules. I'll give him something that he's never, ever going to forget."
Barrett will battle Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. on April 26.
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