John Cena and the Nexus: WWE's Best Idea in Years Gone to Waste

June 7th, 2010 was one of the biggest, most monumental nights in the history of WWE.  It was so surreal, and no matter how many times you see it, it still continues to shock and leaves you shaking your head in disbelief.

This was the night that The Nexus invaded Monday Night Raw.

It’s hard to believe that it was nearly a year-and-a-half ago that Wade Barrett led the NXT rookies in an assault, the likes of which the business had not seen since the original nWo.

And even with the amount of time that’s passed, I still find myself wondering...what if?

What if The Nexus had been allowed to take over WWE?

Now, of course I’m not talking about taking over in the literal sense.  We all know a pro-wrestling storyline when we see one—it’s not 1970 anymore, after all.  

We don’t have our eyes closed to the reality of the business, and the fact is, we understand that WWE is Vince McMahon’s company and he always has the last word.

But when I reflect back on the groundbreaking nature of the Nexus faction, and the excitement that the angle generated among fans, I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if WWE had dared to go in a different direction.

Just imagine for a moment if John Cena had not eventually gotten revenge on the group for their constant attacks on him and other wrestlers in the company.

What if John had been overwhelmed, despite how strong his character has always been, and had bee unable to overcome the gang mentality that Nexus utilized every time they were in the building?

Wade Barrett and company, though not accomplished WWE performers, made up their lack of experience with sheer force, overpowering everyone they targeted.

They attacked indiscriminately, and they were not concerned with winning as much as they were dominating.  

The Nexus didn’t play politics.  They showed no favoritism to one side or the other.  Much like Stone Cold Steve Austin before them, if you were in their crosshairs, you were going to be taken down.  It did not matter if their victim was heel or face, rookie or legend, if they collectively decided that a guy had to be eliminated, then he was.

Simple as that.

That perhaps was the scariest part of their push through the Raw roster, the fact that they were so uncaring, so merciless and so willing to set aside the typical heel agenda of money and championships.  They did not attack others because they were attempting to better themselves or move up in the ranks.  

They did it because they could.  

They wanted retribution for the hazing inflicted by the veteran Superstars.  They wanted the whole world to stand up and take notice of them, to give them the respect that they should have earned, but instead felt that they were owed.

And nothing was going to stop them.

But when John Cena became the primary target, and the eventual focus of the group, it was game over for The Nexus.  Any hope that fans had of a new day dawning on Monday Night Raw, a day in which the weekly routine of Cena never losing a match and the entire program being centered around him, was over.

John is the No. 1 guy in the company, everything flows through him.  The level of The Nexus’ domination would only be allowed up to a certain point before it began to interfere with their focus of John as the top commodity.

Wade Barrett’s pursuit of the WWE Championship was doomed before it even began.

While it was not out of the realm of possibility for him to win the strap, the fact is that he was an unproven talent whose red-hot Nexus storyline could not hold a candle to the pro-wrestling entertainment machine known as John Cena.  No one could outshine him, no one could ever touch him in terms of importance to the company.

That is, until CM Punk.

Punk’s ascension as the unpredictable rebel who spoke for the common fan has been the one event to actually give Cena a run for his money as WWE’s top draw.  But it came at the expense of The New Nexus, which was a weak attempt at recreating some of the original group’s initial heat with the crowd.

It was too little, too late.  Punk was separated from the group, and the gimmick died a quiet death, like so many others in WWE.

The Nexus is one of those angles that died with so much unrealized potential, a storyline that could have gone in so many different directions.  It was a great idea, but one that received little commitment from WWE.  When the time came, it was defeated and later disbanded, exiting on a whimper where it once began with a roar.