10 Best Debuts In WWE History
3. The Nexus
Another entrant that struggled to live-up to the lofty standards set in their debut, The Nexus’ 2010 formation was one of the most talked-about moments of the year.
Coming into the company as a group of hungry young hopefuls on the first season of NXT, the Nexus came together on a June episode of Raw. The group’s eventual leader, Wade Barrett, had just been crowned winner of NXT’s inaugural season, and promised that “something much, much greater” was on the way.
John Cena would take-on CM Punk in the evening’s main event. Just as Cena looked to dispatch Punk with the Attitude Adjustment, Barrett and his fellow greenhorns swarmed the ringside area, each sporting matching armbands marked with the letter “N.” the ensuing attack saw them lay waste to Cena, Punk and Luke Gallows, along with staff members Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker, Justin Roberts, and various other WWE personnel.
They weren’t finished there, though. The Nexus literally destroyed the ringside area by lifting safety mats, flipping the announce table, dismantling the barricades, and tearing the ring apart. It was a shocking statement of intent, a startling visual, and as the show went off the air with ringside in tatters, everybody knew that the Nexus were for real.