10 Failed WWE Pushes One Tweak Away From Excellence

3. The Nexus

Ryback WWE
WWE.com

Why it failed: The story never ever changes with this lot. A strong start derailed by months of lousy booking culminating in them losing when it mattered the most.

The Nexus losing to Team WWE at SummerSlam wasn't the end of the line for the group, and approaching this with reality it was always likely Vince McMahon and his golden goose weren't going to let them have the keys to the kingdom so quickly. But there was more for them beyond losing one big match.

One Tweak: Not to steal a line from The OC in their original 2016 guise, but BEAT UP JOHN CENA!

It worked so spectacularly well the first time it's a wonder WWE didn't revisit the concept over and over again until the lads in the N-shirts were all made men for the rest of their tenures. Decimating 'The Champ' following a clandestine edition of the flagship, all of the goofs from the jumped-up talent show looked ready to take the world on as they tore WWE's stoic universe to pieces.

Beyond that, they were just warm bodies waiting to have their attitudes adjusted in a multitude of different demeaning ways.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett