The Nexus (professional wrestling)

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The Nexus
Stable
MembersSee below
Name(s)The Nexus
The New Nexus
The Nexus Alliance
DebutJune 7, 2010 (As The Nexus) January 3, 2011 (As The New Nexus)
DisbandedDecember 27 2010 (As The Nexus) August 1 2011 (As The New Nexus) August 22, 2011 (As a Tag Team)
Years active2010–2011


2018

The Nexus, later the New Nexus, was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE that competed on the Raw brand from June 7, 2010 to August 22, 2011, originally consisting of eight rookies of NXT season one and shifted their roster several times throughout their 14-month existence, with David Otunga being the only member to serve the group throughout the entirety of its existence.

After NXT, the group went on to antagonize the Raw roster, with then-

WWE Tag Team Championship three times, while Punk won the WWE Championship in his final match with the stable at Money in the Bank
.

Concept

On the February 2, 2010 edition of

WWE pay-per-view of his choosing (he ultimately chose Night of Champions), while the others were left without a job.[4]

History

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Formation and feud with John Cena

The Nexus at SummerSlam

The group made its debut on the June 7, 2010 "Viewer's Choice" edition of Raw, during the

main event, attacking John Cena, CM Punk, Luke Gallows, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker, Justin Roberts, and other WWE personnel around the ring before ultimately destroying everything at ringside, including the ring itself and barricades, forcing the match to end in a no contest.[5] During the attack, which ended with Cena being taken out on a stretcher, Daniel Bryan strangled Roberts with his necktie and, in a sign of disrespect, spit in Cena's face; the former of which led him to be released from his contract on June 11, 2010 as WWE reportedly felt those acts were too violent for the company's TV-PG programming and would have caused issues with sponsors.[6][7] His absence was explained by Barrett on the June 14, 2010 edition of Raw as having felt remorse for his actions, who kicked him out of the group.[8] Nexus was established as the main heel stable on Raw, attacking several wrestlers and legends over the next several weeks, including Raw's General Manager Bret Hart and Vince McMahon and fellow Hall of Famers Ricky Steamboat and Dusty Rhodes.[9][10] After Hart's attack, McMahon removed him as Raw General Manager and appointed a new General Manager. The general manager chose to remain anonymous for fear of being attacked like Hart was, communicating only through e-mails quoted by Michael Cole.[11][12]

The Nexus after exiling Daniel Bryan and attacking Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat on the June 28, 2010 edition of Raw

During the summer of 2010, Nexus had a feud with Cena. First, on the July 12, 2010 edition of Raw, Cena was defeated in a 6-on-1 handicap match that. On July 18, 2010 at

live event in Hawaii on August 18, 2010, Skip Sheffield broke his ankle during a tag match, putting him out of action for the next two years, leaving The Nexus with only five active members heading into September.[20] At Night of Champions, Barrett used his guaranteed championship match that he won for winning NXT in the six-pack elimination challenge for Sheamus' WWE Championship, but he was eliminated by Orton, who later won the match and the title.[21]

The Nexus, after losing Michael Tarver to injury and adding Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty, on the October 25, 2010 edition of Raw

At

special guest referee for his WWE Championship rematch against Orton at Survivor Series, declaring that unless he won the title, Cena would be fired, but if Barrett defeated Orton, Cena would be relieved of all responsibilities to The Nexus.[26] The following night on Raw, Slater and Justin Gabriel
won the WWE Tag Team Championship after Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him.

John Cena reading an address as a member of The Nexus after losing a match to Wade Barrett at Hell in a Cell

On the November 5, 2010 edition of SmackDown, Otunga, who had been questioning Barrett's leadership over the past several weeks ever since Barrett cost him and Cena the WWE Tag Team Championship to Slater and Gabriel, led Harris, McGillicutty, Gabriel and Slater to a second invasion of SmackDown, interrupting a match between Edge and

pinfall following an RKO and Cena was fired (kayfabe) from WWE and subsequently exiled from The Nexus.[30]

The following night on Raw, Cena gave a "farewell address" in which he urged Barrett to stop "taking shortcuts". However, prior Barrett's rematch with Orton later that night, he directed The Nexus in a group attack (led by Harris) on Orton, "injuring" Orton's right knee. As a result, when Barrett was about to pin Orton in the match, Cena (who had supposedly left the building) pulled the referee out of the ring to break the count and attacked Barrett, paving the way (as The Nexus chased Cena out of the building) for Orton to retain the title via RKO. (All of which was promptly undone when

Skull-Crushing Finale). Despite being fired by Barrett, Cena continued to show up on Raw as a ticketholder in the subsequent weeks, causing interference in The Nexus' matches, including costing Slater and Gabriel the WWE Tag Team Championship to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match on the December 6, 2010 edition of Raw.[31] On the December 13, 2010 edition of Raw, Barrett rehired Cena for fear of being exiled by The Nexus, but on the condition that Cena face Otunga in the main event and Barrett and Cena settle the score in a chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.[32] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Cena defeated Barrett in the main event and, after the match, dropped 23 steel chairs from the stage on him after dispatching the rest of The Nexus.[33]

The New Nexus

See also: The Corre
CM Punk became the stable's second leader, changing the name to The New Nexus.

On the January 3, 2011 edition of Raw, The Nexus ambiguously announced after months of repeated attacks on Cena and the WWE roster that it was under "new management," with Punk (who disbanded the

Falls Count Anywhere stipulation voted for by fans which Punk won, revealing after the match that his WWE contract would expire at Money in the Bank, where he would face Cena for the WWE Championship.[45] The following week on Raw, it was announced that Ryan suffered an injury over the weekend and left the group.[46] That same night, a brash Punk realized a worked shoot promo (which he dubbed a "pipe bomb"), reminding that once his contract expired at Money in the Bank, that would be the last time WWE would ever see him and the WWE Championship, as he considered taking his talents to another wrestling promotion, like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.[47] With his victory over Cena at Money in the Bank, the WWE Championship was finally held by the stable on their last night of existence.[48]

Otunga and McGillicutty worked as a

Evan Bourne.[51]

Independent circuit

In April 2018, The Nexus reunited for Chikara King of Trios tournament as The Nexus Alliance, being represented by Tyrone Evans (Tarver), Fred Rosser (Young) and Black (Gabriel).[52]

Cancelled WWE return

Young stated that The Nexus were originally booked to return at WrestleMania 36.[53] A year later, a documentary about The Nexus was cancelled with Young theorizing it was due to Bryan leaving WWE.[54]

Reception and legacy

Reflecting on the group, Wade Barrett discussed the group in the interview with Even Stronger podcast in September 2023. Barrett went on to state that in his own words:

"I think there was probably an era from about 2002 until about [20]09-2010 where I think the show got stale because it was the same seven or eight top guys at the time who had been running the show for the duration of that. So I think the company was starting to realise, 'Look, some of these guys that we've had holding this down for years now, they're starting to get aged out. We really, really need fresh stars because the next 10 years are not looking good unless we start building them now.' So I was kind of lucky that I was along that wave. Sheamus is another one who separately came up around that time, Drew McIntyre. We all got hired on the same day. We're pretty close. So I contrast and compare myself with those two regularly but we got caught up in this wave of 'Look we need new talent. We need new guys. We need fresh stars.' So I was fortunate that my rise through the developmental ranks came at that time, which meant the company was actively looking for new stars."

The success of The Nexus, as Barrett pointed out, helped show the WWE its way to debut a dominant young group, would eventually pave way for a bigger successful faction, The Shield, which consisted of Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.[55]

Members

I–II Leader(s)
* Founding member(s)
† Deceased
Member Joined Left
Daniel Bryan June 7, 2010 * June 11, 2010
Darren Young June 7, 2010 * August 16, 2010
Skip Sheffield June 7, 2010 * August 18, 2010
Michael Tarver June 7, 2010 * October 4, 2010
John Cena October 3, 2010 November 21, 2010
Wade Barrett (I) June 7, 2010 * January 3, 2011
Justin Gabriel June 7, 2010 * January 10, 2011
Heath Slater June 7, 2010 * January 10, 2011
Husky Harris† October 25, 2010 January 31, 2011
Mason Ryan January 17, 2011 June 26, 2011
CM Punk (II) December 27, 2010 July 17, 2011
David Otunga June 7, 2010 * August 22, 2011
Michael McGillicutty October 25, 2010 August 22, 2011

Timeline

Championships and accomplishments

WWE Tag Team Champions

Media

  • WWE: Wrestling's Greatest Factions (May 27, 2014, DVD)

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