Crushed first by a humiliating defeat to John Cena at SummerSlam 2010, their crumpled remains were set ablaze by the months that followed.
As you'll read a few slides from now, the arrival of The Nexus felt exactly like the change WWE were trying to project as they decimated 'The Champ' and the literal fabric of the canvas upon which they'd been prohibited from working on over the past several weeks.
Within seven months they were a busted flush. Within 12 they ceased to even exist. The original defeat against Team WWE at the 'Biggest Party Of The Summer' was damaging in the extreme, but the repeated beatings they took from cartoon hero Cena in the months that followed were just as awful. They were goons from inception - the trick the company never bothered to play was masking that fact.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. 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
