Ten years ago, The Nexus caught fire as a bold new faction in WWE. Defying the conventional logic of having at least one veteran performer to anchor a stable and mentor younger talents, the group launched with eight largely unproven prospects. They quickly became a seven man team that ran roughshod over top tier talents and legends in the build to SummerSlam 2010.
The Nexus stable had an uneven run from there, losing momentum and eventually adding members and changing leadership. All in all, the group had thirteen men come and go from its ranks, and this article looks at six success stories coming out of the group, and six runs that came up short. (For those wondering, Mason Ryan is the odd man left out, who probably would have landed on the list of performers who didn’t succeed.)
12 Succeeded: Daniel Bryan
Interestingly, Daniel Bryan really only had one night with Nexus. The group of disgruntled NXT alums stormed the ring, attacked John Cena, and tore up the ringside area. Bryan was the one who reportedly went too far, as most sources agree that strangling Justin Roberts with his own tie cost him his job.
Fortunately for Bryan and his fans, that wouldn’t be the end of his WWE story. He returned to oppose the group at SummerSlam 2010 and against the odds wound up the only original group member to capture a world title.
11 Didn’t Succeed: Darren Young
Darren Young had a great look and seemed primed to become a featured player in WWE on more than one occasion. He was an occasional dissenter whose in-fighting with Nexus leadership made him a center of attention. Moreover, when he came out as gay, it positioned him as an important ambassador for WWE.
However, Young never quite clicked in the ring or with the WWE audience. Despite multiple reboots, including teaming with Titus O’Neil as The Prime Time Players and taking on Bob Backlund as a mentor, Young never broached upper card status post-Nexus.
10 Succeeded: John Cena
Sure, John Cena was an established main event player and the top star in the company before Nexus started up. In fact, much of the group’s existence revolved around feuding with him as a representation of the establishment that they were against.
As a result of losing to Wade Barrett at Hell in a Cell, Cena was forced to join the group. His membership was, in reality, mostly a gimmick to prolong the rivalry. Regardless, when Cena did move on from the group, the years to follow his membership would see him main event the next three consecutive WrestleManias.
9 Didn’t Succeed: Justin Gabriel
Justin Gabriel enjoyed a solid push early in his main roster tenure, often positioned as second in command to Wade Barrett. That work included lasting until deep in Nexus’s SummerSlam main event run, and looking competitive one on one with John Cena.
After the Nexus dissolved, however, Gabriel struggled to find direction. While he remained an entertaining, high flying performer, he never really landed an identity. He has arguably gone on to greater success outside WWE since, working as PJ Black.
8 Succeeded: Ryback
Billed as Skip Sheffield, the man who would ultimately become Ryback was established as the muscle of the original Nexus. He’d break out to become a much bigger star over the years to follow as a solo act.
While Ryback never reached his full potential, and colleagues like Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk have questioned his ability to work safely, The Big Guy nonetheless captured fans’ imagination. With his sensational physique and impressive power moves, he at least had a memorable WWE career that no doubt exceeded his original Nexus tenure.
7 Didn’t Succeed: Wade Barrett
It’s difficult to call Wade Barrett’s WWE career a failure. After all, he main evented multiple PPVs, won a King of the Ring tournament, and remained relevant for nearly six years after the launch of the Nexus. However, it's also hard to say he succeeded after being part of the faction.
Blame it on injuries, fickle creative, or political influences. Whatever the case may be, Barrett surprisingly never did garner a world title reign and never actually won any of his main event outings. As such, it’s fair to see that he did not succeed coming out of The Nexus.
6 Succeeded: CM Punk
CM Punk had already won his first two world titles before joining Nexus. Nonetheless, it’s tough to say he had really arrived as a top guy, as each title reign led to him getting shuffled back toward the middle of the pack. Usurping Wade Barrett to lead Nexus shored up Punk’s place higher in the pecking order but he still felt several steps removed from true main event status.
Punk’s Nexus more or less ended when Randy Orton pinned the Straight Edge Superstar at WrestleMania 27. Little could fans have known that this wasn’t Punk descending further into the mid-card. On the contrary, months later he’d drop his famous pipe bomb promo, and then beat John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank to redefine his WWE legacy.
5 Didn’t Succeed: Michael Tarver
Michael Tarver was one of the original Nexus members who headlined SummerSlam in 2010. Though WWE had built him up to look imposing at the time, the bloom was off the rose come time for that big match, when John Morrison pinned him three minutes in.
Tarver was arguably the least distinguished member of Nexus, and it’s all but undeniable he had the least distinguished WWE tenure to follow, accomplishing little, never capturing a title, and getting injured. He had appeared on screen a bit in 2011, in segments that seemed to hint he’d do something, only to wind up quietly released.
4 Succeeded: Heath Slater
Heath Slater didn’t exactly come across as a star in the Nexus. His NXT run established him as a babyface, and he felt like a bit of a square peg in the heel supergroup, mostly working in a supporting role.
Nonetheless, Slater would go on to one of the longest WWE tenures of any Nexus alums, lasting a solid decade with the company. He found his footing as a comedic heel and had a fun face run, highlighted by his tag team with Rhyno.
3 Didn’t Succeed: Curtis Axel
Curtis Axel joined the second wave of The Nexus, getting the call up alongside Husky Harris when the group needed reinforcements. The faction had already lost a lot of its luster by that point.
Axel looked primed for bigger things when he re-debuted under the tutelage of Paul Heyman. Despite early wins over marquee stars, the character struggled to connect with the audience, and he became mostly a lower card enhancement talent and tag team wrestler. There’s little question he peaked in his comedic B-Team tag team with Bo Dallas.
2 Succeeded: Bray Wyatt
Husky Harris was a fun enough addition to the Nexus late in the game as a big bruiser who filled something of an enforcer role. However, his name and presentation didn’t exactly suggest he’d be an eventual main event talent.
Little could anyone have guessed that he would wholly reinvent himself in the Bray Wyatt persona. While that gimmick has had its ups and downs. Highlights include two separate world title runs and reinventing himself enough to remain highly relevant seven years into his run under the Wyatt name.
1 Didn’t Succeed: David Otunga
David Otunga looked, early on, as though he might have breakout potential. With a bodybuilder’s physique, a Harvard pedigree, celebrity connections, and a gift for gab, early comparisons likened him to The Rock.
Otunga failed to impress from bell to bell and didn’t show much development over his years in the spotlight—particularly when the lights were on brightest for the Nexus run. He achieved a kind of success in winding up a long term WWE broadcaster but didn’t come close to the star potential a lot of people saw in him early on.