Nexus

Nexus is a professional wrestling stable in the professional wrestling promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), that is currently competing on its Raw brand.

Nexus originally consisted of the eight contestants of the first season of NXT, but Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, Michael Tarver, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater are no longer with the group.

Bryan was kicked out of the group when he was released from WWE. He would return at SummerSlam 2010, aligning himself with the WWE. Young was the second member kicked from the group on the August 16 edition of Raw. Tarver was the third member kicked out of the group, by John Cena, on the October 4 edition of Raw.

Barrett acquired NXT second season contestants Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty to the group on the October 25 edition of Raw.

John Cena was forced to join the group after former Nexus leader Wade Barrett defeated him at Hell in a Cell 2010, but left the group as a result of a match stipulation in November 2010. Barrett was exiled from Nexus on January 3, 2011 after losing a Steel Cage match also involving Randy Orton and Sheamus.

Formation and hostile attacks
Prior to their formation, each member of the Nexus was a contestant (or "rookie") on the first season of the NXT program. The conclusion of the competition on June 1, 2010 saw Wade Barrett declared the winner who was awarded a WWE contract and a championship match at a pay-per-view of his choosing. The seven losers of the competition were left without a job, and Barrett immediately began performing on the Raw brand.

On the Viewer's Choice edition of Raw, the group debuted during the main event between WWE Champion John Cena and CM Punk sporting matching armbands with the letter N. Barrett led the group in an attack on Cena, Punk, Luke Gallows, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker and other WWE personnel around the ring, as well as destroying everything at ringside, including the announce table and the ring itself. During the attack, Daniel Bryan strangled ring announcer Justin Roberts with Roberts' necktie and also spit on Cena's face. This led to WWE releasing Bryan as they reportedly felt those acts were too violent for their TV-PG programming. His absence was explained by Barrett saying that Bryan had felt remorse for his actions and as a result was kicked out of the group.

A week later, the group explained their actions as retribution for the poor treatment they received from WWE management during their time on NXT. The attack was also to threaten WWE into giving the remaining six members WWE contracts. Raw General Manager Bret Hart declined the demand and fired Barrett. When Hart then ordered the whole Raw roster to stand guard at the ringside and stage areas during the main event, the Nexus attacked Hart backstage by forcing him into a limousine and crashing it into other vehicles. During the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, the Nexus interfered in the main event for the WWE Championship, attacking all the wrestlers involved. Sheamus used the interference to win the title from John Cena.

The group then spent the next few weeks attacking various WWE figures, such as Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat and other legends when they were celebrating Steamboat's DVD release following an edict that Nexus and the rest of the Raw roster could not engage in physical confrontation that week.

Raw Debut
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon subsequently removed Hart as general manager due to his injuries, and appointed a new general manager, who chose to remain anonymous (communicating only through e-mails quoted by "official spokesman" Michael Cole). The general manager immediately gave the Nexus WWE contracts and reinstated Barrett's championship match opportunity. Barrett revealed that this group was going to form no matter who wound up winning NXT, stating that the seven of them had formed a "Nexus" and had a common goal they all fought to have accomplished. However, even after apologizing for their actions, the Nexus continued their hostile attacks, including one on McMahon who tried to take credit for the Nexus' actions.

On the July 5 edition of Raw, the anonymous general manager demanded Cena and Barrett call a truce later in the night. Cena refused and attempted to attack Barrett, which began a brawl between the Nexus and most of the Raw locker room. After Cena would not stop assaulting Darren Young, the GM announced that Cena would face the Nexus in a 7-on-1 handicap match the following week, which caused Cena to further attack Young. Young was removed from the match the following week due to his injuries, making the matchup a 6-on-1 handicap match, which The Nexus won after the 450° splash of Justin Gabriel, who then pinned Cena.

Before the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Nexus appeared on NXT, and competed in a Battle Royal featuring the second season pros and rookies. The storyline started when Percy Watson invited his partners (the other rookies) to attack MVP (in retaliation for the pros attacking the rookies in the aftermath of the Nexus forming—to "keep them in line"), but in reply to this, MVP called the other pros and became ready for a fight. Co-host Matt Striker then intervened and arranged a Battle Royal, also including The Nexus (who were making a scheduled appearance on the show anyway). All seven Nexus members were declared co-winners after being the last men in the ring.

At Money in the Bank, the Nexus attempted to get involved in the WWE Championship match involving Sheamus and John Cena in a steel cage by breaking the door. However, the referees threw the key into the crowd and the tool that Tarver tried to use to break in. They then tried to climb up and get involved. However, Sheamus and Cena were able to hold them off and escape, with Sheamus winning. Afterwards, Cena began beating up Tarver and Young and then took Tarver's Nexus armband.

Feud with John Cena
On the July 19 edition of Raw the Nexus continued their attacks on the Raw roster by first attacking Edge and then Chris Jericho, after the two longtime rivals attempted to manipulate the group against each other. Later on in the show, Barrett defeated Mark Henry in a singles match. After that, Barrett and The Nexus asked Cena to join them. Cena refused and said that he would take them all down at SummerSlam, and that he had found some help to do it. Cena revealed his team one by one; the members were Edge, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali, Chris Jericho and Bret Hart. The next week of Raw featured The Nexus defeating Team Raw (Mark Henry, The Hart Dynasty, Jerry Lawler, Evan Bourne, Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu) in a 7-on-7 elimination tag team match with a clean sweep. The Nexus later mocked Cena's team, who were arguing amongst themselves, saying that they'd have an easy victory at SummerSlam.

At SummerSlam, the Nexus were defeated by Team WWE, featuring a returning Daniel Bryan, who joined Team WWE as a surprise member, after the Nexus had injured Khali, taking him out of the match, and eliminated both Young and Slater. Cena ended up being the sole survivor. The following night on Raw each member of Nexus competed in matches against members of Team WWE (except Bret Hart, who was replaced by Randy Orton), with the stipulation that whichever Nexus member lost their match would be exiled from the group. While almost all the members of The Nexus won their respective matches, Darren Young failed to defeat John Cena in the main event and was not only kicked out of the Nexus, but attacked by the group following his loss.

In a live event in Hawaii on Aug. 18th, 2010 at the Blaisdell Arena, Skip Sheffield broke his ankle during a tag match where he teamed with Otunga against the Hart Dynasty, putting him out for months, thus leaving only five active members of the Nexus remaining. On the 900th episode of Raw the Nexus defeated John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Sheamus and Randy Orton in a 5 on 5 elimination match, after Gabriel hit Cena with the 450-splash for the third time, pinning him a second time, while Barrett dropped and pinned Randy Orton. Earlier on in the night the group also attacked The Undertaker with help from Kane. The following week, Wade Barrett lost to Randy Orton, after a distraction from the returning Darren Young. Barrett used his guaranteed championship match in the Six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the WWE Championship at Night Of Champions but was eliminated by Orton, who later won the match and the title, following an RKO.

Nexus made an appearance on the October 1 live episode of SmackDown, to mark the show's move to Syfy. Throughout the night, Nexus attacked Dolph Ziggler, MVP, Big Show and John Cena. They then served as lumberjacks for the main event of the evening, between John Cena and Kane. This was the first time they had appeared on SmackDown since their formation back in early June.

Addition of John Cena and WWE Tag Team Champions
At Hell in a Cell Barrett and Cena faced each other in a match with the stipulation that if Barrett won, Cena would have to join Nexus, and if Cena won or Nexus got involved, the group would be disbanded. Barrett managed to win the match, following interference from Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty. On the October 4 edition of Raw, Tarver was paired with Cena who brutally attacked him after the match. Later Barrett would say that he was planning on getting rid of Tarver anyway implying he was no longer a member, in reality Tarver was pulled due to a nagging groin injury. The Mystery GM stated that since John Cena is now a member of Nexus he must take orders from Wade Barrett or he will be fired. Later Barrett ordered Cena to help him win the #1 contender-ship in a battle royal for the WWE title. The match came down to Cena and Barrett where Barrett ordered Cena to eliminate himself.

At Bragging Rights, The Nexus won their first titles in the WWE when David Otunga and John Cena defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre to win the titles. Later on in the same night, the group helped Kane defeat The Undertaker in his Buried Alive match, for reasons which have yet to be explained and also Barrett beat Orton by DQ in a WWE Championship match thus not winning the title. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel won the Tag Team Championship, after beating Otunga and Cena in a match in which Barrett ordered Otunga to lie down and be pinned. During the same night Barrett revealed that Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty had become official members of The Nexus. Also it determined that Cena would be the guest referee for the WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett at Survivor Series, with a stipulation added stating that if Barrett does not win the WWE Championship, Cena would be fired on the spot, but if Barrett wins the Championship, Cena would be relieved of all Nexus duties.

On November 5 Otunga, who had been questioning Barrett's leadership in the past weeks, led Gabriel, Harris, McGillicutty and Slater to an invasion of SmackDown, interrupting a match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio. Nexus was then defeated in the main event of the show in a ten man tag team match by Edge, Del Rio, Big Show, Kane and Kofi Kingston. Barrett didn't approve Otunga's decision to lead Nexus to SmackDown and as a result forced him to defend his spot in the group a week later. On the November 12 edition of SmackDown Otunga defeated Edge in a lumberjack match, after an interference from Kane, to keep his spot in Nexus. At Survivor Series on November 21, 2010 Randy Orton retained the WWE Championship against Wade Barrett via pinfall and John Cena was fired (kayfabe) from WWE and subsequently departed from Nexus.

Despite being fired, Cena continued to show up on Raw in subsequent weeks, causing interference in Nexus' matches and attacking them backstage, in the ring and in the arena parking lots. On the December 6 episode of Raw, Slater and Gabriel lost their WWE Tag Team Championships against the team of Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Elimination Match, following an interference from Cena. Later the same night, Cena informed Nexus that his attacks on them may stop, however attacks on Barrett would continue. Wanting the attacks to stop, Nexus (excluding McGillicutty, who was (kayfabe) injured after being attacked the previous week by Cena) threatened to eject leader Wade Barrett from the group if he did not get Cena rehired the following week. The following week Barrett rehired Cena in exchange for a Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders &amp; Chairs. On December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Cena defeated Barrett in the main event of the evening, after taking out all the other members of Nexus throughout the event.

The "New" Nexus
The group, without Wade Barrett, after repeated attacks by CM Punk on John Cena, would ambiguously announce that it was under "new management". CM Punk was revealed to be the new leader, acquiring the position after Barrett lost a Steel Cage match against Randy Orton and Sheamus after CM Punk throws Barrett back in the ring while Barrett tries to escape the steel cage, in which he would lose his status as leader should he lose the match.The following week on the January 10th edition of Raw, Punk declared that this was a new Nexus, and in order to join, all members would have to voluntarily complete initiation tests. McGillicutty was the first member initiated, by suffering a Nexus beat down of his own. Husky Harris took 3 leather strap shots to back by each member of Nexus. David Otunga solidified his place in the new group by voluntarily starting a fight with The Big Show, which resulted in getting beat down, choke slammed, and knocked out. Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater were instructed to beat each other with Kendo sticks. After much hesitation, they both dropped the sticks and walked out of the group. The next week CM Punk was scheduled to have a match against John Cena, but an unknown wrestler interfered , it was Mason Ryan , a former FCW world heavyweight champion , Mason Ryan was inducted into The New Nexus the week after. At the 2011 Royal Rumble, The New Nexus dominated the Rumble by eliminating each superstar after they just came in , 1 by 1 , so the other superstars wouldn't have the chance to neutralize The New Nexus , but John Cena eliminated everyone and CM Punk got eliminated later in the match himself.

Currently Members

 * CM Punk (Leader) (December 27, 2010 - Present)
 * David Otunga (June 7, 2010 - Present)
 * Michael McGillicutty (October 25, 2010 - Present)
 * Mason Ryan (January 17, 2011 - Present)

Former Members

 * Daniel Bryan (June 7, 2010 - June 11, 2010)
 * Darren Young (June 7, 2010 - August 16, 2010)
 * Michael Tarver (June 7, 2010 - October 4, 2010)
 * John Cena (October 3, 2010 - November 21, 2010)
 * Wade Barrett (June 7, 2010 - January 3, 2011)
 * Heath Slater (June 7, 2010 - January 10, 2011)
 * Justin Gabriel (June 7, 2010 - January 10, 2011
 * Husky Harris (In FCW training development they said he got injured but that wrote him off of wwe he isnt there)
 * Skip Sheffield (Wade said he was not a part of the nexus on one of the raws)

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * The Verdict (Thrust spinebuster) – Otunga
 * Go To Sleep (Fireman's carry dropped into a knee strike to the face) - Punk
 * Running one-armed swinging neckbreaker - McGillicutty
 * Andaconda vise no submission - Ryan
 * Running senton - Harris
 * Over The Shoulder Boulder Holder (Backpack stunner) - Sheffield
 * Running high-impact clothesline - Sheffield


 * Entrance themes
 * "We Are One" by 12 Stones
 * This Fire Burns by Killswitch Engage

Championships and accomplishments

 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * NXT Winner (Season One) – Wade Barrett
 * WWE Tag Team Champions (2 times) - David Otunga & John Cena (1), Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel (1)
 * 2010 Slammy Awards - Shocker of the Year