10 Times WWE Totally Dropped The Ball On Something Hot

5. John Cena Nixes The Nexus

WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Sami Zayn
WWE.com

Wade Barrett is a fine, fine commentator and is doing a great job calling the action on SmackDown these days. But instead of sitting at the commentary table as 'just' a respected wrestler of yesteryear, Barrett should be sat there as a multiple-time World Champion.

It's crazy to think how white-hot the Nexus were for a spell, with the rookies of NXT shocking the wrestling world on the 7 June 2010 episode of Raw.

There, these relative unknowns - and indie darling Bryan Danielson, of course - decimated John Cena, CM Punk, Luke Gallows, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker, Mark Yeaton, Justin Roberts, Justin Roberts' tie, and laid waste to the entire ringside area in a way never before seen.

The Nexus had arrived, and arrived in a major way, immediately marking themselves out as a major deal as they targeted the biggest stars of the day. With Wade Barrett the leader of this group, it was he who was positioned as a genuine World Title contender

Unfortunately for Wade and his boys, the wind was taken out of the Nexus at SummerSlam 2010. On that August night, the faction came up short in a 14-man main event elimination match against Team WWE. In particular, it was John Cena left standing tall as the sole survivor of this contest, and it's been noted in the years since how Cena himself regrets not having the Nexus emerge as the victors in this bout.

From there, the dents were in the armour of the Nexus, Barrett would come up short in any matches of note, and the group become just another run-of-the-mill collection of midcard heels. As such, the future Bad News stands as a five-time Intercontinental Champion, whereas in reality, if WWE struck when the iron was hot, the Englishman could well be regaled as a five-time World Champion.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.