CM Punk has had one of the more remarkable WWE careers as it made him become an even bigger star in the wrestling industry. Although his WWE career was at its prime in the Summer of 2011, CM Punk was prominently featured long before that. CM Punk's character was involved in many directions before the infamous "Summer of Punk, as he was a multi-time World Heavyweight Champion and even was a leader of the faction on Smackdown called "Straight Edge Society." While this specific change is largely unnoticed by many wrestling fans, CM Punk once took over the leadership role of The Nexus in 2011 after Wade Barrett got exiled from the group. Although taking leadership was a massive role for him on Raw in 2010, The Nexus didn't take off as planned and eventually dissolved less than a year after this new angle failed.

Related: CM Punk's AEW World Championship Win Is The Right Decision At The Wrong Time

The Nexus Gets New Leadership

In mid to late-2010, The Nexus took over the Raw brand as the top heel act under the leadership of Wade Barrett. The only problem was that despite being pushed heavily in 2010, Wade Barrett's leadership role of The Nexus took a turn for the worse. He lost a "Chairs" match against John Cena at the TLC 2010 PPV event, thus was the ending point for the original Nexus. As CM Punk gained control of The Nexus under his nose, he got exiled from the group after losing a number-one contender's contest for the WWE Championship to regain his leadership from CM Punk.

Because of this, it was time for CM Punk to shine as the new leader of The Nexus. The only question is, can WWE creative booking give him quality material moving forward?

Forgettable Feud With John Cena

CM Punk was out of in-ring action for multiple months due to suffering a real-life injury. CM Punk eventually returned by attacking John Cena during one of his matches on an episode of Raw. He would do the same thing the same week on an episode of Smackdown.

After revealing himself as the new leader of The Nexus and renaming the faction as "The New Nexus," CM Punk immediately sets his sights on John Cena. One must keep in mind that John Cena just finished feuding with the original Nexus as he got the best of Wade Barrett, so feuding with CM Punk's New Nexus might feel like an afterthought to some fans.

CM Punk's feud with John Cena in early 2011 was one of the main reasons why New Nexus didn't work. He's feuding with John Cena while leading a faction that has arguably run its course didn't feel special. His feud with John Cena in early 2011 was forgettable as it gets. Through no fault of CM Punk or even John Cena, more so being WWE's creative booking.

To make things worse, when The New Nexus was dominating the first-ever 40-man Royal Rumble at the Royal Rumble 2011, John Cena immediately got the best of all four members by eliminating them. Four of the New Nexus members, CM Punk, David Otunga, Mason Ryan, and Michael Mcgillicutty, looked weak upon John Cena throwing out all members for elimination. And to add insult to injury, with The Rock returning to WWE after seven years, CM Punk's New Nexus felt less important than it already was.

The New Nexus's forgettable feud with John Cena eventually ended with John Cena defeating CM Punk as the final entrant in the "Elimination Chamber" match for a WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania 27. The New Nexus angle was tainted with little hope of repair.

Related: Nexus: Every Member, Ranked By Promo Ability

Randy Orton Makes Things Worse For The New Nexus

While feuding with John Cena didn't go as planned, CM Punk then turned his sights on Randy Orton for a match at Wrestlemania 27. Although the storyline between the two made sense as CM Punk justified targeting Randy Orton as revenge for causing him to lose the World Heavyweight Championship in 2008, WWE made no effort to build any credibility for The New Nexus during its feud with Randy Orton.

For instance, Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in every match in their feud, which was the final nail for The New Nexus to repair. CM Punk lost to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 27 while also losing both rematches on an episode of Monday Night Raw and in an "Extreme Rules" match at the Extreme Rules 2011 PPV. "The New Nexus" angle was a failure at that point because WWE made no effort to tease that they were a powerful unit.

CM Punk Successfully Moves On

While The New Nexus was a fail, 2011 eventually became the best year of CM Punk's entire WWE career due to the events after distancing himself from The New Nexus. CM Punk had the talent to rebound his credibility by engaging in one of the hottest angles in 2011, as the failure of The New Nexus had little to no effect on him.