Okay, everything in quotes is more an exaggerated, purely emotional rant on my part and not in any way, shape or form, and objective argument, but:
"Barry deserves it? Was Barry in (funnily enough) 'The Return of Barry Allen?' No, he wasn't, because the point of the greatest Flash story of all time was to move Wally out of Barry's shadow and into a new frontier, one that expanded to include a successful spin-off book and a superhero family that was larger than the Batfamily for a time. Was Barry in 'Blitz'? 'War of the Rogues'? 'Ignition'? 'The Dark Flash Saga'? No, he wasn't. Barry doesn't deserve to be the 'definitive Flash.' No one gets that title, because the mantle is more important, and marketable, than the man. There was nothing wrong with Barry's return. But there's something deeply stupid and creatively counter-productive about shutting out an entire generation of fans so you can relive your childhood, and thus hijack a successful and expansive franchise into a smaller one because marketing deals with lowest common denominators."
Okay, that whole thing is more emotive and subjective than actually argumentative, but my point stands; trying to nail Barry down as the definitive Flash hurt a strong franchise, and I strongly feel he doesn't "deserve" the top spot just because his origin comes before Wally's. There's a part of me that kind of wants to see TV!Barry get lost in time and Wally cast as his successor for an entire season, just so the general public can understand how there's actual depth to comics mythology, not just the same rote formula that Silver Age fanboys are addicted too.