When Wade Barrett led the Nexus into the Viewer's Choice edition of Monday Night Raw in 2010, he was shot straight to the moon by creative. It was the first time in a long time that the company had took a chance on doing something different. Instead of just sporadically debuting the rookies of the first season of NXT on Raw and SmackDown, they put them together in one of the greatest stables the WWE has ever seen. Lead by the charismatic and entertaining Barrett, Nexus targeted John Cena and the entire WWE roster. Though they were similar to the group that inspired it, the NWO, the Nexus were a different breed. They weren't just a group of outsiders, they were WWE bread. And they wanted one thing. John Cena's head on a platter. But much like the NWO before it, they were eventually watered down into a shell of what they used to represent. And despite my love for CM Punk, the New Nexus was, and still is, a terrible idea. Ultimately, the Nexus should have been the springboard to create a new top heel in Wade Barrett. And he was on the cusp of that, when he worked a WWE Championship match with Randy Orton at Survivor Series. In a perfect world, Barrett would be booked to win the title and capitalize on the enormous momentum he had. But it was not to be, as Orton retained. Shortly thereafter, the inevitable destruction of the Nexus sent Barrett packing to SmackDown. Despite forming a new stable in the Corre, Barrett failed to catch fire like he did on Raw. He's a gifted entertainer in the ring, and his booming voice makes for some intimidating promos, but creative has saddled him with less than spectacular angles to work with. Since 2013, he has been working a new gimmick in Bad News Barrett. It's an odd one, and reeks of WWE keeping him around because he's well-liked, but it's doubtful he will ever reach his the height of heat he had during the original Nexus run. It's a shame, because the WWE is going to need a new top heel once Orton starts to slow down, and you may have missed your chance at one in Wade Barrett.
