Looking Back #2 - The Nexus

[Rammsteinmad]

For the second edition of Looking Back, we go back to 2010 once again, for what is arguably one of the most memorable debuts/storylines of the year; the debut of the Nexus.

A faction that we all have opinions on, let's look back at the Nexus and discuss what we liked about them, what he hated, what we'd have done differently, did we get the breakout stars we expected, or were there a few surprises? What were some memorable moments and matches, and what are ones we'd rather forget?

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For me, I loved them to begin with. I really liked the idea of all these rookies who were humiliated on NXT running rampage on the company. I feel a lot of the appeal of these renegade invaders was lost when they were "signed to contracts", but the earlier assaults, when they'd destroy anyone and anything were really exciting and kept everything on edge.

With injuries and people getting released etc, things died down quickly though, and with the second wave of NXT people joining I felt a lot of the Nexus' appeal was already lost, and as much as we love CM Punk, but the time he'd come around to joining I'd gone off them.

It's fun to look back on them now though, see where they're all at now and how their individual gimmicks and personas developed. Daniel Bryan has had an amazing last few years, and it's cool how Ryback has gone from a generic big guy to DA BIG GUY. I'm kinda disappointed with how Barrett's turned out. Obviously when your debut feud is with the #1 guy, there's nowhere to go but down the card, but he's really not gained any momentum since then. Mostly due to injuries. I'm still hopeful that Barrett and Ryback have title runs one day, and that Bryan can return and be back at that same level again.

Overall, the Nexus had the potential to be one of the greatest factions of all time, and like so much in WWE these days, after the first few weeks/months of the angle they really had no idea where to go or what to do.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Why try to depress us on Christmas?

[whiteyford]

Cena being involved was a double edged sword for me, on the one side he's the top guy in the company so the feud/angle is given that much more focus but on the other its Cena and he will just kinda run through you at the end. It's one of those angles I love but you know it coulda been better, look at how the Shield was handled and they're pretty much the Nexus.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Pretty much the Anti-Nexus you mean? They were handled completely differently. The Shield didn't lose anything for like their 6 months. The Original Nexus only lasted for six months.

[Tom Guycott]

The real hero of the Nexus debut was Justin Roberts. I mean, he sold his beatdown so well, a guy got "released"* over it. The impact of the carnage that first night was up there with moments like The /arber Shop window or CM Punk's worked shoot. I would also venture to say the Nexus' failure was vital for The Shield's success. They did everything Nexus did right, like the multiple finisher, without the bloat of an 8 man stableor marred with releases or getting the steam knocked from out of their push by SuperCena overcoming the odds.


*I've expoused my opinion on the matter. That will always get quotation marks from me, in much the same way that I will nearly always refer to Perfect or Axel with Henning* and not follow up with a * explanation.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

So you spell their name wrong? It's Hennig.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I bet Daniel Bryan got some sort of back-pay when he signed back with WWE.

[Tom Guycott]

So you spell their name wrong? It's Hennig.

That's what I said, Henning*

Point being, they've had it spelt both ways, publicly, even though Hennig is correct. For some people, that was a point of contention to point out "you spelled that wrong" with the extra N. I know and understand that, and simply don't give a rat's ass. I used to add the "explanation" that I know it isn't the actual way to spell it, but then just stopped pointing that out at all. The joke has long since both stopped being funny and nobody even tries to correct it, but I still do it.

As for your back pay idea, I believe it. I just think he was "fired on paper". A "worked shoot", as it were, on the shareholders and advertisers, IF YOU WHEEEELLL as long as he kept his mouth shut; a glorified suspension simply because of PR backlash over violence on a show about people fighting eachother, and still allowing him to take indy dates and not starve/get ring rust and the second that 90 day window was over, he was back on WWE TV AND instantly a title holder. A little "incentive" to not broach the details of his firing makes perfect sense.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't think SummerSlam ruined the group. They were new to the big stage, they didn't have the "big match" experience to beat the top guys in WWE. One thing they did have was a unified goal, and their teamwork carried them to be as successful as they were.

I even got excited when Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris joined. I do think that they should have shed their personas and rejected the "NXT names" they were given. Joe Hennig and Windham Rotunda would have been fine. Or they could have used different first names -- Michael Hennig and Harry Rotundo, for example. Whatever.

I think the group fell down at Survivor Series '10 when John Cena feebly rejected The Nexus. I wrote heading into the event that Barrett should not become the WWE Champion, but rather that Cena should have found his spirit, and brutally turned on Barrett, with the Nexus (who were banned from ringside) having to watch in horror on a monitor. Where to go from there? The stipulation was that if Cena didn't do as he was told, he would be fired -- but Barrett's ego could have kept him around and challenged him to some sort of match at TLC. Preferably not a Chairs Match, since those don't really make any sense to me, but a match where they could beat the holy hell out of each other. People will scoff at the idea, but David Otunga could have been used as an opponent for Orton, and they could have done a Tables Match where Orton could powerbomb Otunga through no harm, no foul.

Punk taking over the group didn't seem right at the time either. I think Barrett should have stayed on as leader and challenged The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania. But Triple H felt he was the best opponent for Taker in the wake of HBK's retirement. Hell, Barrett could have even ended the streak after a mass Nexus beat-down, even though people would have been upset by that. You could have also had a Chokeslam/Tombstone fest on the members or something.

[Rammsteinmad]

Totally agree that we should have gotten Wade Barrett vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Every year (until Brock) it seemed that they tried to "up the threat level" even though we knew 'Taker would always win. Barrett, with the threat of the Nexus getting involved, would have at least added some serious potential to the idea of the streak ending.

[Mr. Nerfect]

A young lion going after the streak would have had a different vibe to it too. For a while we kind of got "two old legends fighting it out in epics." It kind of bothers me that Triple H wrestled Taker more times at WrestleMania than HBK did. Or Kane did. And as many times as Stone Cold faced The Rock.

[Fox]

Ah, the Nexus. Could have been so much more. They had such an amazing start in the WWE - the John Cena/CM Punk beatdown could've been one of those moments like Hogan turning on WCW at Bash at the Beach - the defining moment.

Their biggest mistake was not making Barrett out to be a contender, but doing the old fashioned "young guy paying his dues" crap, which he's STILL going through. It's fine if they treated everyone else like rookies trying to step into the big time - but at least treat the leader like some kind of a prodigy. Treat him like he's a mastermind or vicious psychopath or at least as an incredible in-ring worker who could actually stand toe to toe with the WWE main eventers. A couple of wins over some main event talent would've positioned him as "a guy."

WCW may have been a total disaster in a lot of ways (well, most ways), but the one thing they did right was push the nWo as a true threat to WCW's top guys. If you watch the BATB match, Hall and Nash pretty much dominate Sting, Luger and Savage without much effort for most of the match. That was a brilliant decision. Having Nexus pick up a clean win over the WWE's top faces on PPV would have made them out to be a huge threat. Yes, it makes the faces look momentarily weak, but it's all about a big payoff later on when they get their win back and vanquish the Nexus. In the end, everyone comes out looking like stars.

Instead, as has been said multiple times in this thread, they ended up just being another victory vehicle for John Cena - a guy who'd already beaten everybody there was to beat, and absolutely did not need the wins - wins that have equated to absolutely nothing in his career.

Oh well. At least they did The Shield correctly.

[Simple Fan]

This is not looking back but I feel with the current NXT roster a new Nexus would be cool.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

This is not looking back but I feel with the current NXT roster a new Nexus would be cool.

Making NXT heels would kill the brand.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I wouldn't be surprised if they bring the group back one day. I mean, pretty much all the Nexus guys have jobs still, but aren't really doing much. Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Darren Young and Curtis Axel would probably all get something out of it. And all the talent are lot more "worn-in," so they can have their individual identities and have enough credibility for a bit of a serious push out of it.