WWE Raw Gallery: 25 Years Of Iconic Monday Nights
8. 2010 - ...Or Against Us
Dateline: 7th June, 2010
There were major real-life motivations and ramifications to one of the greatest storyline beatdowns in company history. The soon-to-be-named Nexus were connected by little during their abusive experiences on the muddled NXT proving ground in 2010, but a shared distaste for the horrors they endured was enough to unite them in a visually captivating dismantling of John Cena and Monday Night Raw.
Played to silence after Jerry Lawler was decked and Michael Cole scarpered, the brutal beating felt legitimately frightening from the moment a masked Michael Tarver bore holes through 'The Champ' from his ringside position.
As the squared circle and entire ringside area was destroyed, Daniel Bryan added to the torment and terror by brutally choking out announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie and spitting on John Cena. His legitimate firing for the misnomers (ahead of a prompt rehiring in the summer) added much to the mystique.