10 Terrible WWE Storylines One Tweak Away From Excellence

3. The Nexus (2010)

Nexus WWE
WWE.com

John Cena knew very well how powerful The Nexus would be received as if they targeted him during their debut assault on WWE at large, and it's why thinking about how the rest of this story played out is all the more perplexing.

The concept and the wrestlers enacting it needed Cena's star power. They got it on night one and moved beyond him to several regulars and legends that are often lined up to be warm bodies for new evil heels or groups, but Cena remained at the heart of the matter, enforcing Wade Barrett's leadership and the group itself.

SummerSlam 2010 was a booking catastrophe waiting to happen - the seven had already been marginalised before that inaugural brawl - but christ alive they were in need of so much more than they ultimately received.

One Tweak: They win.

And not just at SummerSlam, but throughout the Autumn months too. Barrett beat Cena but the captive hostage stipulation somehow made things worse for him until the group were begging him to get 'The Champ' off their backs. When it came to Nexus, 'Big Match John' worked against us.

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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, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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