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I think post-Survivor Series was the downfall to the angle. Everything else was pretty perfect. Actually, scrap that. I think Cena should have DESTROYED Barrett at Survivor Series. If I recall, Nexus members were banned from the match -- but Cena was the ace in the hole. You have Cena decide his integrity was more important to him and the WWE Title, so he beats the living shit out of Barrett, as the Nexus is forced to watch on backstage. Cena counts the three for Orton, and then Nexus run down to get their hands on Orton and Cena, perhaps with the two fighting them off with steel chairs or something, and Cena gets a farewell moment in front of the crowd.
On RAW, Barrett is super-pissed, but he takes his hat off to Cena. "I never thought you were actually a man to stick to your morals -- I thought I could break you, Cena." Out comes Cena to his own theme music, who tells Barrett to do his worst, because he'll have no problem finding a job. Barrett says "You don't get off that easy, Cena. If I fire you, I can't hurt you. I want you at TLC." There, the two have a match, and you actually put Barrett over as a guy with the balls to fight for himself. At this time, Otunga was talking about leading the Nexus himself. You have Orton face Otunga for the WWE Title, and have Orton retain and take out Otunga with a punt to the skull, sending him back to developmental to get more polish (it seems oxymoronic to put a guy not ready for the main roster in a WWE Title match, but with the Cena/Nexus stuff you had essentially three main events on every PPV, and the heat and interest in Otunga was there...kinda). Truthfully, I think Barrett would have needed to have come back with a win at TLC to remain powerful, with the Nexus also losing Otunga. I think Darren Young returning to the group could have been a good move, as he was essentially doing nothing worthwhile during this time.
Barrett gives Cena a chance to rejoin the Nexus, but he'd want a token of loyalty. A kiss on the boot, perhaps? Cena refuses, so Barrett fires Cena "because he can." It's Royal Rumble time, and Cena jumps into the ring during the match, and tosses out Barrett (and possibly some other Nexus members). Barrett is pissed and says he should never have lost the Rumble. He has earned his spot at the top of the roster. The General Manager chimes in and says that Barrett might have a point, but he's going to ignore it until Barrett re-instates Cena, because he was an important part of RAW and all that. If Barrett does so, both he and Cena will be in the Elimination Chamber at WrestleMania. It's agreed, and they do the shift from Barrett vs. Cena to Cena vs. Miz (with The Rock involved) when The Undertaker makes his presence known to Barrett -- which suits Wade just fine.
But I think the reason the WWE ultimately got cold feet with the Nexus was partially because of WrestleMania season. I'm sure there were once plans for Taker vs. Barrett, but they thought that Taker vs. Triple H would get more buys. Old, established names were a large focus of the PPV (like The Rock and Triple H), while younger guys (save for The Miz and Alberto Del Rio) were brushed over. And then gears never really got pumping again after Mania.
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