Let's Be Honest About........The Nexus

In June of 2010 during an episode of Monday Night Raw, a match between John Cena and a masked CM Punk was taking place. Right in the middle of the encounter, NXT season 1 winner Wade Barrett stood on the entrance ramp, looking on. The other contestants of NXT snuck into the ring from the crowd. What happened next is considered one of the most shocking moments in Monday Night Raw history. The group attacked everyone in sight: announcers, ring announcers, timekeepers, referees. They tore up the announce table and the actual ring itself. The group would then decimate Cena to close out the show. For a week, the WWE Universe was wondering what occured. Was it a work or a shoot? The eight.....oops, seven were unpolished and still were featured on the majority of the show and thrown in a main event push with John Cena and other legends. They would become the Nexus. They beat up other WWE superstars, legends and even Vince McMahon himself. The seven were given an opportunity to flourish on the flagship show in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.

Here are 4 opinionated points about the Nexus.

THE FIRING OF DANIEL BRYAN WAS A BLESSING

During that scuffle on Raw, Daniel Bryan was seen choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie. It seemed as it was a heat of the moment deal, but WWE acted quickly and fired Bryan since the sponsors for Raw were having a hard time seeing a man getting choked with his own tie on a PG show. The same PG show that has superstars throwing each other on announcer tables. Bryan would return at Summerslam of that year. Daniel Bryan stood out from the group, because he was already accomplished from his years in ROH and the brass decided to put him in a stable of wrestlers looking to prove themselves. It wasn't a good fit. His firing was lifting the burden of that. Even in NXT, announcers would state of Bryan's experience around the world. And honestly, he was the best pure wrestler to come from the Nexus. Don't tell me otherwise.

WADE BARRETT WAS PUSHED TO BE A MAIN-EVENTER, BUT HE WASN'T

I like Stu Bennett.....or Wade Barrett during his tenure in the WWE. He was a former bare-knuckled boxer turned professional wrestler who knew the tricks of the trade of the business during his early years in the U.K. Barrett would go to OVW and FCW to perfect his craft. He was featured in the NXT competition of the first season, which he won thanks to the WWE Universe. Barrett is an imposing figure: 6'7" 250. Has the mic skills that were above average and his wrestling ability could have lifted him into a world championship. So why isn't Wade Barrett a main-eventer? Simple. His matches with main event talent as in John Cena and Randy Orton were heh. They weren't really lifting Barrett into main-event status. He did win the Intercontinental Title five times, so the company saw him as a workman-like performer. After being released from WWE, Bennett has traveled in the indie circuit in an executive role, which suits him since he is "a student of the game". (Side note: I share a birthday with Bennett.)

IT'S HARD TO PINPOINT THE FALL OF THE NEXUS

Many will say that SummerSlam of 2010 was the downfall of the Nexus. A mere two months after the group arrived on Raw. Let me back up a little bit. Nexus faced John Cena and a group of WWE superstars in a 7 on 7 elimination tag team for that main event. Towards the end, it was Cena vs Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett. Legend had it that Cena changed the outcome at the last minute with him going over instead of the two upstarts. It drew anger from Edge and Chris Jericho.....allegedly. Cena won, and the Nexus was buried. Or was it at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view where Barrett beat Cena, making the latter join the Nexus? Or was it when Cena joined the Nexus and decided to undermine them at every turn? Or was it at the Survivor Series when Randy Orton defeated Barrett for the WWE Championship with Cena as the referee and the stipulation stating that if Barrett didn't win the title, Cena would be fired? Or was it two weeks later when the fired Cena would appear on Raw, destroying every member of the Nexus, causing them to a near mutiny on Barrett if Cena wasn't brought back? Or was it when CM Punk replaced Barrett as the leader of the Nexus? Or was it.....you get the idea. Whatever moment I just mentioned were a portion that killed the Nexus' momentum.

EXCEPT FOR HUSKY HARRIS....AND MAYBE SKIP SHEFFIELD, MEMBERS OF THE NEXUS REALLY DIDN'T ACHIEVE GREAT HEIGHTS

I've already talked about Barrett, but the other members didn't enjoy the main-event status. Darren Young and Michael Tarver didn't stand a chance as both were excommunicated from the group. Young would come back, but it was brief. Heath Slater and Michael McGillic....Curtis Axel enjoyed a long run with the company with many title reigns and not-under-the-radar storylines. I was a fan of Slater's "I Got Kids" run and Axel was a Paul Heyman guy. Ironically, both would be released during the mass-cutting of talent and executives recently. Justin Gabriel was the aerialist of the group with a breathtaking 450 splash in his repertoire. He had a couple of tag team title reigns, but nothing really spectacular. He is now P.J. Black in ROH. David Otunga was green.....very green. Meaning he had the body and a look and his mic skills were ok, but his wrestling skills were below average. He is best known for being engaged to Oscar winning actress Jennifer Hudson. Otunga is still with the company appearing on the panel on the PPV pre-show. Speaking of Paul Heyman guys, Skip Sheffield would break his ankle during the Nexus' time of dominance and would return repackaged as Ryback. He was given a chance to shine. The fans chanted his catchphrase and he given a shot at the WWE Championship. Then his momentum stopped and he never recovered. Husky Harris became the most successful of the stable. Coming back as the most talked about Bray Wyatt, he would win a couple world titles in the WWE.

The Nexus was happening in 2010 and was the chatter around wrestling communities. Unfortunately, it was brief........so damn brief.

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