Fantasy Booking: The Nexus (Part 6 – The End)

After months of dominance, chaos and manipulation, The Nexus storyline is finally coming to an end. Part 5 wrapped up with the Royal Rumble PPV, which featured John Cena’s return only to get shockingly eliminated after getting rid of The Nexus, CM Punk’s warpath being interrupted by a returning Booker T, and Wade Barrett escaping with the WWE Championship yet again thanks to Mark Henry’s interference. Barrett’s empire remains intact, but it’s not the same. If you’re just jumping into this fantasy booking project, you can find all the parts below.

• Fantasy Booking: The Nexus (Part 1)
• Fantasy Booking: The Nexus (Part 2)
• Fantasy Booking: The Nexus (Part 3)
• Fantasy Booking: The Nexus (Part 4)
• Fantasy Booking: The Nexus (Part 5)

CM Punk and John Cena are both looking for revenge, and Nexus members are starting to build their own personalities as well. With WrestleMania 27 now in sight, it’s time to bring all the stories together and find out what’s going to happen at The Showcase of the Immortals. Expect a few final surprises to close this fantasy booking with a big impact. Part 6 is the grand finale. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: The Suspension That Kills The Nexus

Raw – January 31, 2011

The episode opens with a recap of the Royal Rumble PPV as the commentary team breaks down the key stories: Mark Henry snapping and costing Sheamus the WWE Championship against Wade Barrett, CM Punk’s shocking early elimination in the Rumble Match after Booker T’s return took center stage, and John Cena’s big return to WWE.

The Nexus are talking in their locker room:

Great job at the Royal Rumble, lads. Every Raw wrestler we eliminated is one less headache on the road to WrestleMania. But now it’s time to clear the board completely…

Daniel Bryan scoffs:

Funny how we sacrificed our title shots so you could hang onto yours.

David Otunga cuts him off immediately and reminds them who made the call at TLC to save Barrett’s title reign. Justin Gabriel jumps in and agrees with Bryan in front of everyone, saying they would never go after Barrett’s title if they won the Royal Rumble.

In the ring, Sheamus is absolutely fuming. He storms down the ramp looking for a fight.

For months, I’ve told people not to get involved in my battles with The Nexus. And yes, I admit – I kicked Mark Henry in the head for it. That was business. But last night, what Mark Henry did wasn’t business. Mark, you wanna make this personal? Get out here and let’s do it right now!

Mark Henry walks out slow and steady:

You put your foot in my face in front of the whole world TWICE. So you call that business? I’ve had enough. I’m the strongest man in the world. From now on, NO ONE will humiliate me. EVERYONE will feel… pain.

The two nearly come to blows, but several officials and undercarders come down to the ring, adding anticipation.

Meanwhile, CM Punk appears in the backstage interview area. He’s far from happy, but not yelling either.

Last night, I entered the Royal Rumble early. At one point, I was the one who stood in the ring with all the Nexus members involved in the Rumble. It wasn’t easy, but I fought through and finally eliminated a Nexus member. I was on a roll, about to run through all of them, but then… I guess I was wrong. There was a king at the Royal Rumble after all, huh!? All of a sudden, CM Punk was the sideshow. Everyone was distracted, including me, and I got eliminated. I’m not blaming anyone but me, don’t get me wrong. But don’t think I’m done because I was tossed over the top rope. The Nexus… Wade Barrett… I will finish what I started at the Royal Rumble.

Elsewhere, The Miz and Alex Riley are watching a replay of the Royal Rumble. They’re happy that everyone is slowly being removed from the title picture.

Main event: The Nexus (Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel) vs. John Morrison & R-Truth

It’s a fast, athletic and fun tag match. Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel do a great job out there, but things start going south when David Otunga slides a chair into the ring while Heath Slater is distracting the referee. They refuse to follow the orders, which eventually allows Morrison & Truth to pick up the win. Post-match, Barrett isn’t impressed:

You’re either Nexus… or you’re against us.

Just before the show goes off the air, the anonymous Raw General Manager announces that Raw will feature an Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship in the main event of the Chamber PPV. Wade Barrett will be defending his title against John Morrison, Sheamus, Randy Orton, CM Punk, and John Cena. Wade Barrett looks angry as the show ends.

Raw – February 7, 2011

The Nexus come out for a promo to start this week’s episode. Wade Barrett says he might not be happy about the GM’s announcement, but says he’ll find a way to leave the Elimination Chamber with the WWE Title. Barrett turns his attention to Bryan and Gabriel afterwards, and he wastes no time.

Last week, you lost in the main event. You came close, but close won’t get any of us far. If you want to hang around here doubting Nexus and second-guessing every decision we make, you two can walk away right now.

Daniel Bryan calmly responds:

Wade, you don’t get it. We respect you as our leader, we always have, and we are proud Nexus members. But we also want a chance to prove that we can do even better.

We might be one group, but we’re six different people. This is our way to show you that we can offer a lot more and make The Nexus even stronger. – Justin Gabriel adds.

Wade Barrett smirks: Alright, I get it now. You’re right, we just think differently and weren’t seeing eye to eye, I’m sorry. And since you were honest and told me you never had any chance of coming after MY title at WrestleMania if you won the Royal Rumble, I’ll give you a chance. SmackDown needs two more guys for their Elimination Chamber Match for Edge’s World Heavyweight Championship, so I’ll let you go take it. This Friday, you’ll both be in qualifying matches. Go earn your spot and take another World Title to Nexus.

Later in the show, Mark Henry is smashing a bunch of objects backstage. He’s not happy about not being booked for the Elimination Chamber Match. R-Truth is seen pacing as well while John Morrison is all smiles.

Then, Justin Roberts presents WWE’s brand new commentator to replace CM Punk on Raw and Matt Striker on SmackDown:

Booker T!

CM Punk is seen watching the segment on a monitor. He doesn’t say a thing, but you know deep down he’s pissed about being replaced by Booker T on commentary.

Later, John Cena makes his first Raw appearance since last August. Before walking out for the main event, he cuts a quick promo in Gorilla position:

At TLC, The Nexus had to save Wade Barrett. At the Royal Rumble, I tossed out all of them. But I didn’t win the Royal Rumble, and I’m not the WWE Champion either. If I have to go through the Elimination Chamber to get my hands on Barrett and get the title back, so be it. It’s time go to work!

Main event: John Cena, John Morrison & R-Truth vs. The Nexus (David Otunga, Heath Slater & Darren Young)

Barrett, Bryan and Gabriel are watching at ringside. At one point during the match, John Cena challenges Wade Barrett for a fight, who nearly enters the ring. He’s stopped by Gabriel and Bryan, who have to remind him about the 30-day suspension. The babyface team picks up the win in the end, but R-Truth isn’t celebrating. After all, what does this win mean for his career in the long run?

As Gabriel and Bryan are comforting the other members after their loss, Wade Barrett is distracted. His mind is obviously in another planet. Something during this match got him thinking about something.

SmackDown – February 11, 2011

Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel both qualify for SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match with hard-fought clean victories over Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston, respectively. Will they bring another World Title to The Nexus at Elimination Chamber?

Raw – February 14, 2011

With Elimination Chamber just six nights away, the anonymous Raw General Manager opens the show with a huge announcement:

Welcome to Monday Night Raw. Tonight marks the beginning of a very important week for WWE. Not only is the Elimination Chamber PPV coming up next Sunday, but SmackDown will celebrate its 600th episode this Friday night. The Raw roster will be there, and the main event will be a special ‘SmackDown vs Raw’ 12-man tag team match featuring the six participants from Raw’s Elimination Chamber Match against the six participants from SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match.

Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & Booker T immediately speculate on the lineup. With Wade Barrett set to defend his WWE Championship in the Raw Chamber and Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel about to compete for SmackDown’s World Title, the Nexus members will be on different teams this Friday!

However, the atmosphere within The Nexus seems calm backstage. Wade Barrett addresses the group:

We are the strongest group in WWE history. That’s the reason why I’ve held the WWE Championship for four months. And now, Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel have qualified for SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match. Good. Now go finish the job and take the World Heavyweight Championship. Let the world know this is The Nexus Era.

Gabriel and Bryan nod along. For the first time in a while, the group feels united. Otunga watches quietly, but doesn’t speak.

Wade Barrett vs. Vladimir Kozlov

It’s a short but stiff bout that Barrett wins in about four minutes with the Wasteland, looking strong ahead of his title defense inside the Elimination Chamber on Sunday. CM Punk joins the commentary team for this match, with Michael Cole trying to stir things up between Punk and Booker T. Punk calls himself “the best wrestler, the best talker and even the best commentator in WWE today”, and Booker says he’d love to teach Punk a lesson back in his day. Punk laughs it off, but it’s obvious they don’t like each other.

After Barrett’s win, CM Punk rises from commentary and claps slowly, never taking his eyes off Barrett, who’s holding the WWE Championship belt.

Later that night, all six participants in Raw’s Elimination Chamber Match get into a huge brawl to close the episode. But before the Chamber, they’ll be partners this Friday on SmackDown!

SmackDown #600 – February 18, 2011

Main event: 12-man tag team match – Edge, Kane, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett, CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus & John Morrison

The match itself was chaotic, loaded with star power and tension between everyone involved. After all, everyone will be involved in the Elimination Chamber matches just 48 hours later. The interactions between Barrett and his allies, Bryan and Gabriel, added a unique edge to this main event. But the Nexus members never fought each other, with Barrett doing his best to stay away from the action. Bryan and Gabriel, on the other hand, wrestled like they had something to prove.

The match turned into a big melee near the end, and John Cena started making his big comeback on both Bryan and Gabriel, even hitting a double Five Knuckle Shuffle on them. As this was happening, Barrett left the ring and ordered the three Nexus members at ringside (Young, Slater and Otunga) to save their allies NOW. Otunga followed the order immediately, with Slater and Young entering the ring after him. As Cena was about to hit the AA on Gabriel, The Nexus jumped him and the referee called for the bell. The commentators realize what has just happened. The Nexus start attacking other wrestlers as well, but a few seconds later we hear this…

NO CHANCE IN HELL!

Vince McMahon comes out with a microphone in hand and goes straight to the point:

Alright, I’m sick of this crap. The Nexus have been warned too many times. I gave you every chance and you kept breaking every rule. I told you this would happen, but you didn’t listen. I hope you listen now, Nexus, because you are suspended for 30 days without pay effective immediately. Now get out of my ring.

Wade Barrett starts laughing as soon as McMahon leaves. This suspension means he’s just escaped the Elimination Chamber with his WWE Championship without even having to compete – genius! He wants to celebrate with the rest of Nexus, but Gabriel & Bryan are shaking their heads in disgust.

We’d earned our shot, Wade – Gabriel says without a microphone. I worked my whole life for this one opportunity – Bryan mouths.

Barrett tries to explain himself, but they’re not having it. Bryan decks Barrett with a forearm and Gabriel kicks him in the face. Just like that, two of Nexus’ most loyal members walk out. We see Barrett staring at the lights, holding his jaw and hugging his WWE Championship like a pillow. Bryan and Gabriel remove their Nexus armbands. That’s the last we’ll see of The Nexus for a month.

Elimination Chamber – February 20, 2011

With WWE Champion Wade Barrett suspended following the chaotic events from SmackDown #600, the Raw Elimination Chamber Match is now a #1 contender’s bout to determine who will challenge Barrett at WrestleMania 27. Taking Barrett’s place in the Chamber will be R-Truth and not Mark Henry, as his recent outbursts had drawn ire from management.

Raw Elimination Chamber Match: R-Truth vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. Sheamus

The match starts with CM Punk and R-Truth inside the ring. As the bigger star, Punk dominated the action but Truth managed to hang in there quite well. Truth took a high risk chance but missed it big time, eating the turnbuckle. As soon as John Morrison entered the fray as the third participant, he capitalized. Morrison took out Punk with a couple of kicks, then looked at R-Truth who was down near the corner, and delivered Starship Pain.

R-Truth eliminated

Truth isn’t happy as he gets back up. Morrison is heard saying “it’s every man for himself and you’re in position” while Truth leaves the ring. Randy Orton comes out next. Sheamus is supposed to be the next participant to enter the Chamber, but his pod doesn’t open. Mark Henry is outside the ring! He rips the cell and the pod and drags Sheamus to ringside, destroying him with the World’s Strongest Slam through the announce table. Henry tries to take Sheamus’ place in the match, but the officials don’t let him. Henry beats up a few officials in the process, before destroying Sheamus some more. EMTs check on Sheamus, who bravely rolls back into the Chamber. However, he’s obviously hurt. Sheamus tries to hit the Irish Curse backbreaker on Punk, who blocks and turns it into the Anaconda Vice. After about ten seconds, the referee calls for the bell and Sheamus is gone.

Sheamus eliminated

A few moments later, John Cena joins the match as the sixth and final participant. Cena runs wild as usual, but he’s cut off by CM Punk about a minute later. Punk is on fire in this match. He takes out Orton as well before hitting Morrison with the GTS. But he doesn’t go for the cover. Instead, he climbs one of the pods, looks directly at Booker T (who’s on commentary) and delivers a flying elbow. Punk covers and eliminates Morrison.

John Morrison eliminated

We’re down to Punk, Cena and Orton. Punk has already eliminated two wrestlers. However, after eliminating Morrison, Punk mocks Booker T’s hand gesture and the Spinaroonie. Punk is having fun out there, but Booker’s getting hot. Booker puts his headset down and stands up, with the other commentators telling Booker to calm down. That’s just the way CM Punk is, he’s funny that way. But that distraction ends up costing Punk, who walks right into the RKO from Orton. Orton’s too hurt to cover, but Cena follows up with an AA to Punk, who’s eliminated.

CM Punk eliminated

Punk is pissed. He leaves the ring and gets in Booker T’s face, with the two men finally trading blows before a bunch of referees separate them. It comes down to John Cena vs Randy Orton, two long-term rivals who’ve had a lot of history with The Nexus. Cena’s fresh so he manages to hit the AA, but Orton kicks out. Cena goes for a second AA, only to get hit with the RKO. Another nearfall and the match continues. Orton is tired and hurt, so he wants one final RKO to get the job done. He goes for it, only for Cena to escape by dumping Orton over the top ropes right on the steel floor. Orton takes a big bump, crawls back inside the ring where Cena’s waiting for him. Cena hits the AA, covers and wins the match.

Winner: John Cena

John Cena will challenge Wade Barrett for the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 27, but there’s still a month to go before The Nexus return to WWE. Their next appearance will be on the March 21 episode of Raw, just 13 days before ‘Mania.

Final Chapter – The Road To WrestleMania

With Wade Barrett and The Nexus suspended for a month, John Cena carries the build to WrestleMania 27. Cena wants payback after what happened at SummerSlam, and he wants their feud to end with a brutal Street Fight in the main event of WrestleMania. The anonymous Raw General Manager makes it official.

Speaking of WrestleMania, The Rock returns to host the show much like in real life and the two talk about each other here and there. Nothing too crazy because Cena’s focus is Barrett, but there’s clearly some animosity between Cena and Rock.

Raw – March 21, 2011

Raw opens without pyro or music. Just an uneasy silence as five men in black and yellow storm through the crowd, much like The Nexus had done in their WWE debut back in June 2010. Barrett, Slater, Young and Otunga return from their 30-day suspension. The fifth man is the returning Michael Tarver, who’s no longer injured.

Barrett stands in the middle with a microphone in hand. We warned you – he clamly begins. Suspend us. Threaten us. Try to destroy us. In the end, The Nexus always wins. We’re back and we’re stronger than ever. The crowd starts chanting “CENA” at this point, so Barrett addresses Cena’s challenge for a Street Fight at WrestleMania:

John Cena just doesn’t learn. Cena, you think taking away the rules and making it an anything goes match gives you the edge? You’re dumber than I thought, Cena. At WrestleMania, we will humiliate you and destroy you yet again, and this time we’ll make sure you don’t come back.

John Cena comes out to confront The Nexus. He says there’s no way WrestleMania 27 will end like SummerSlam 2010.

Wade Barrett, you’ve had your time, but your time… is up. If you think I’m alone in this battle, you couldn’t be more wrong. CM Punk was right when he told you that you’ve already been exposed – hell, you got the beating of a lifetime at TLC – but now it’s up to you to be a man and step up. You can bring back Michael Tarver, you can bring your entire families to WrestleMania and it still won’t be enough. Wade Barrett, the only way you walk out of the main event of WrestleMania 27 with the WWE Championship is if you deliver the performance of your career on The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel vs. The Usos

Bryan and Gabriel, also back from their 30-day suspension, have a chance to win a mini-tournament to determine the next challengers for The Hart Dynasty’s WWE Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania. They pick up a strong win over The Usos, only to be surrounded by The Nexus post-match.

Gabriel tries to fight back, Bryan even gets throw a few stiff kicks, but the numbers advantage are too much. The Nexus start beating up their former allies… but John Cena‘s music hits. Cena sprints down the ramp with a steel chair in hand and clears the ring alongside Gabriel and Bryan. The Nexus leave the ring with Barrett holding the WWE Championship high. With Gabriel and Bryan standing by his side, Cena points at the WrestleMania sign and mouths: WrestleMania 27. Street Fight. You and me.

Somewhere backstage, The Rock is watching the monitor with a smile on his face. He can’t wait to see them fight at WrestleMania 27.

Raw – March 28, 2011

The Rock opens the final episode of Raw before WrestleMania 27. The Great One comes down to a huge reaction and goes on to hype ‘Mania. This Sunday, The Rock is hosting the biggest WrestleMania of all time. Titles on the line, extreme matches, legends clashing… WrestleMania will have it all. But most importantly, in the main event, we’ve got John Cena vs Wade Barrett. Rock proceeds to call The Nexus a bunch of jabronis, and lets everyone know that if anyone tries anything funny, The Rock will lay the smackdown.

#1 Contenders Match – John Morrison & R-Truth vs. Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel

The chemistry between Bryan and Gabriel is undeniable here. Near the end, the referee misses John Morrison’s tag to R-Truth, who runs wild to no effect. A few moments later, Gabriel takes out Truth with a missile dropkick, and Bryan forces Morrison to submit to the LeBell Lock. Bryan and Gabriel will go on to WrestleMania 27 to wrestle The Hart Dynasty for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Truth isn’t happy about missing WrestleMania and doesn’t check on Morrison afterwards.

Main event segment: John Cena calls out Wade Barrett

John Cena wants to know if Barrett has the guts to show up all by himself before WrestleMania. Wade Barrett walks to the ring all by himself, saying he’ll end John Cena’s dream of regaining the WWE Championship. Things heat up between the two and they almost come to blows, so The Rock runs in to protect the main event of WrestleMania.

Rock gets right in between the two, and we can hear him telling both men to “save it for ‘Mania”. But as tensions escalated, Barrett managed to punch Cena in the eye. Cena swings wildly and accidentally clocks Rock with a right hand meant for Barrett. The arena goes silent as Rock stumbles back, holding his jaw. Cena instantly realizes his mistake… and that’s when Barrett hits both Cena and Rock with his championship belt. Barrett walks up the ramp with a huge smile on his face and the WWE Title on his shoulder.

WrestleMania 27 – April 3, 2011

Before getting to the main event, here are the results of other matches featuring people that influenced this storyline:

• Daniel Bryan & Justin Gabriel defeated The Hart Dynasty to win the WWE Tag Team Championship
• Mark Henry defeated Sheamus by count-out (basically their SummerSlam 2011 match happens here, and then they go on to face each other in a Last Man Standing Match at SummerSlam, which is also won by Henry)
• Randy Orton defeated The Miz
• CM Punk defeated Booker T

Right before the main event, Wade Barrett asks The Nexus not interfere. He wants to prove to the world that he can beat John Cena on the biggest stage all by himself. When Barrett leaves the room, David Otunga has that “here we go again” look on his face.

Main event: WWE Championship Street Fight – Wade Barrett vs. John Cena

This is finally the culmination of a war that spanned almost a full year. It comes down to one last brutal fight in the main event of WrestleMania. John Cena enters first – no salutes or cute entrances as usual, just a serious look on the face of a man who’s ready to end the nightmare that has plagued him since June. Wade Barrett enters last, also with a fire in his eyes. No Nexus, no numbers advantage. A serious man who has something to prove in the main event of his very first WrestleMania appearance. Barrett grabs a microphone before the match starts:

Tonight, with the whole world watching, I’ll prove that I’m no longer a rookie by doing the impossible: beat John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania. And I’ll do it alone.

John Cena nods respectfully. Things explode in this Street Fight as soon as the bell rings. No collar-and-elbow tie-ups in this one… it’s a wild brawl as soon as it starts. They fight in and out of the ring, into the crowd and back again, hitting each other with everything they can find. Barrett is extremely aggressive in this one, hitting Cena with chair shots while also throwing him into the barricade and the steps. Cena responds in kind, ramming Barrett spine-first into the ring post and also hitting him with several weapons.

About 15 minutes into the match, Barrett grabs the pipe that he used to destroy Chris Jericho at Hell in a Cell. He hits Cena with a massive shot to the gut, picks him up and delivers the Wasteland for a close nearfall. Barrett can’t believe it, and Cena takes him down right into the STF, but Barrett uses the pipe to break the hold. Barrett starts destroying the ring much like The Nexus did at SummerSlam and when they debuted on Raw. Before Barrett can do it, Cena shoves Barrett through a table set up in the corner and finally gets a second to breathe. When Barrett gets up, Cena takes him up for a huge Avalanche AA from the second rope. One… Two… Barrett kicks out! The crowd can’t believe and neither can Cena. Barrett is not going down without a fight.

Suddenly, while both men lay motionless, The Nexus run in and start attacking Cena despite what Barrett said earlier. Barrett didn’t call them, he’s still out cold. The crowd roars in disapproval as the beatdown continues and they destroy the rest of the ring… until the cavalry arrives. Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel dive into the chaos first, followed by John Morrison, Evan Bourne and Randy Orton. Finally…

IF YA SMELL!

The Rock marches to the ring and the fight is on. All the babyfaces who had problems with The Nexus over the last 10 months finally clear The Nexus once and for all. Barrett and Cena begin to stir, looking down at the exposed ring. Then they look at each other almost as if to say: “this is how it started, and this is how it’ll end” and start throwing haymakers. Cena gets the upper hand as he’s making his big comeback, but Barrett avoids the AA by shoving Cena into the exposed turnbuckle. He sets up the steps in perfect position for a thunderous Wasteland. However, Cena shifts his weight in mid-air, lands on his feet and scoops Barrett up. He climbs the steps and hits a nasty AA spine-first onto the jagged steel edge of the exposed ring boards. The thud echoes across the Georgia Dome. Cena covers. One… Two… Three!

Winner and new WWE Champion: John Cena!

The crowd cheers, knowing they’ve just witnessed the end of a wild and violent feud. Wade Barrett has finally lost the WWE Title, but everyone knows he only went down like a man. Cena sits in the corner, exhausted with the championship in his hand looking over at Barrett, who’s still down. You can tell Barrett has earned Cena’s respect despite everything he did…

Then the rest of The Nexus return to the ring. They kick Cena and proceed to corner Barrett. They look ready to attack their leader, who’s barely moving. The Rock comes down again and he cleans house alongside Cena, hitting a bunch of finishers on the rookies. When Barrett finally gets up, Rock says “this was for Monday” and dumps him out of the ring. Rock turns back to Cena and the arena is about to explode. They look at each other for a few seconds before Rock hits a quick Rock Bottom. That one was also for Monday! Rock celebrates on his way up the ramp. But before WrestleMania ends…

The Miz is here and he finally wants to cash in Money in the Bank. The referee rings the bell and Miz covers for the 1-2-3. The Miz steals the WWE Championship. He takes advantage of all the chaos and walks out of the main event of WrestleMania 27 the winner… without having even wrestled in the main event of WrestleMania 27!

THE END

And that’s how I’d book The Nexus. After ‘Mania 27, Wade Barrett should take at least a month off TV to sell the impact of that nasty AA. The Miz can hold the WWE Championship for about two months before he loses to John Cena, who then goes on to drop the belt to CM Punk at Money in the Bank. The fact that Cena got to beat Barrett instead of Punk should also add fuel to the fire heading into their match. Meanwhile, David Otunga can try to run his own version of Nexus during Barrett’s absence, which Barrett himself should destroy. As far as Barrett’s future, he remains a top star on WWE TV feuding with other big names, such as the returning Chris Jericho in 2012, for example.

Thanks for reading the whole story. I tried to elevate Wade Barrett and The Nexus without making it look like a complete joke. Yes, John Cena won in the end, but he didn’t completely destroy the group all by himself. I also tried to promote Rock/Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 28 without turning the main event of WrestleMania 27 into a complete afterthought. I hope you liked it!