The Roster Mistake Even John Cena Agrees WWE Made

It wouldn't be pro wrestling without fans, or even the wrestlers themselves, arguing over a booking decision; in some ways, the industry even thrives on it. As such, there is rarely a time where there is a majority consensus on whether something was handled perfectly or if something was a disaster; this happens so infrequently that most fans can easily point to decisions that were 100% wrong. Such examples would be WCW Starrcade 1997, when Eric Bischoff decided against a clean Sting victory over Hulk Hogan in favor of shenanigans (some of which were botched) and the 2019 Hell in a Cell match between Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt that ended in a disqualification. But one booking mistake that has an even lower approval rating than those two occurred in 2010, a time period in WWE history not exactly known for sound decision making and high quality.

There was a brief flicker of hope in the summer, however, when Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield, and Darren Young, all participants of the "game show era" of "NXT," formed The Nexus, announcing their rival with a blistering show closing attack on "WWE Raw" that saw them dismantle wrestlers John Cena, CM Punk, Luke Gallows and broadcast members Justin Roberts, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker. While Bryan's actions led to him briefly getting fired, the angle was otherwise seen as a success, and fans were glued to the TV screen as WWE built to a major SummerSlam match that saw Nexus set to take an all-star team of WWE stars, led by Cena. And with the group riding a wave of momentum, it seemed like a no-brainer that they'd defeat the WWE team to set up even more big time matchups in the fall.

Of course, that Nexus win didn't happen. Instead, the stable lost, and did so in rather unceremonious fashion, with Cena, the last man standing on the WWE side, overcoming a DDT to the floor in quick fashion to eliminate Gabriel and tap out Barrett. The moment was well received in the building, but left many fans at home scratching their heads, and most importantly, left many of the wrestlers involved in the match confused. In interviews since, Barrett has revealed he and his Nexus teammates were bewildered when they were told they were losing, while AEW stars Adam Copeland and Chris Jericho both admitted that they argued against Cena winning to both Vince McMahon and Cena to no avail. Interesting enough, Copeland and Jericho also revealed that Cena later approached the two and admitted the finish to the match was a mistake.

Alas, by that point, it was too late, and despite WWE's best attempts to keep Nexus hot following SummerSlam, they never quite regained momentum. By the end of the year, the original incarnation of the Nexus was no more; Barrett, Gabriel, and Slater went to SmackDown to form a new stable, The Corre, with Ezekiel Jackson, Otunga became part of The New Nexus, led by CM Punk and featuring Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris, and Mason Ryan, while Young, Sheffield, Young went out on his own, and Tarver and Sheffield were taken off TV due to injury. By the middle of 2011, both The New Nexus and The Corre were dead as well, putting an end to any incarnation of Nexus. In the span of a year, the stable went from arguably the most promising thing on WWE TV to being utterly dismantled, another "what if" added to WWE history.