The summer of 2010 saw the arrival of The Nexus, a renegade group of former NXT stars hellbent on avenging the humiliation they endured as part of the first season of the competition show and make a name for themselves in the industry. To do so, they targeted industry giant John Cena, who endured a brutal and violent beating on the night of Nexus' monumental debut. Unfortunately, Cena's willingness to allow the young stars to get over at his expense ended there. Whether it was his own doing or idiotic booking on the part of WWE Creative (most likely the latter), Cena proceeded to get the best of Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, Darren Young, Heath Slater and David Otunga on nearly every occasion, sending the group with the potential of being a more modern New World Order scurrying in fear. Only once, a victory by Barrett over Cena at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October that led to Cena reluctantly joining Nexus for a month, did the group even appear to be on the same level of WWE's resident Superman. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18lhmd_tlc-2010-john-cena-vs-wade-barrett-chairs-match_sport By the time Cena buried Barrett to close out the TLC pay-per-view, quite literally doing so underneath a pile of steel chairs, any credibility that was built for the group on its first night of existence in June was erased. It is unknown if Cena ever took a step back, looked at the bigger picture and raised concerns about the booking surrounding his victories over Barrett and the rest of Nexus. If he did, he deserves to be absolved of the blame. If not, even more should be piled on as those few months of working with the young talent of the breakout faction was undeniably worse off for having mixed it up with the top star in the industry. And that does no one any favors.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
