WWE's Biggest Booking DISASTER Every Year (1986-2026)
17. John Cena Squashes Nexus (2010)
It'd be a lie to suggest that every single member of Nexus had the potential to be a top player. Of the core crew, only Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan (although few knew the heights he'd reach in 2010) and maybe Skip Sheffield/Ryback seemed capable of earning that status. Others, like Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, seemed more like fine midcarders long term.
Right, enough preamble. Here's what you came for: John Cena's selfishness crushed the group's promise.
Fellow veterans Edge and Chris Jericho went into the Nexus vs. 'Team WWE' match at SummerSlam believing that the upstart rookies should win and win big. Cena disagreed, so much so that he used his backstage influence to shut them down and make sure he was booked to triumph instead.
Barrett's squad was never as hot after that, especially when Cena was then "forced" to join them for around a month between October-November. Make no mistake, this was the absolute pits of Cena-induced 'Barney The Dinosaur in jorts' PG agony.
Those crafty Canadians called it heading into SummerSlam. They knew that Nexus had to look dominant so they could continue piquing interest in a sweeping change on Raw and SmackDown. JC, for whatever reason, was refusing to play along with that storyline revolution.
The jig was up: Nexus wanted John to join them simply because they couldn't beat him. That made the group look like a bunch of losers rather than the kind who'd change the main event scene permanently. Hang your head in shame, 'Super Cena'.
Who do you think you are? Hogan in WCW?!