Nexus: Where Are They Now?

I was watching some WWE clips on YouTube and I came across the Freed or Fired Survivor Series match between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett with John Cena as the referee. It was at that point I started thinking about how Wade Barrett is trying to get himself back to the top of the card after his initial main event push. Then I thought about the other members of Nexus and how they have fared since the disbanding of the group. So I thought I would go down the list of each of the faction’s members and grade them on their post-Nexus careers. Just a note that I am only going to look at the initial incarnation of the Nexus so, for the purposes of this article, I am going to leave out Mason Ryan, CM Punk, Husky Harris, and Michael McGillicutty.

Heath Slater

Heath has just started to resurface this summer after largely being an nameless jobber to the likes of Brodus Clay. The battling of legends leading to RAW 1000 has been the best thing to happen to Heath since the Nexus. The grandstand challenges allowed Slater to show his personality and be an annoying heel. Sure he was still a jobber but at least he was someone that the fans got to know as a grating, loud mouthed, punk who they could look forward to have beaten up. Most recently, Heath has joined forces with Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal and they have been attacking midcard babyfaces. So far the time being, Slater appears to have a solid spot on the roster.

Grade: C

 

Michael Tarver

Well things did not go so well for Mr. Tarver. After suffering a groin injury in real life, the storyline was that Cena attacked Tarver so badly that he was injured. Wade Barrett then indicated that had Cena not beat up Tarver, he would have been kicked out anyway. While still under contract, Tarver was shown backstage jut hanging around a few times and then was released. The only member of Nexus not still employed by WWE.

Grade: F

 

Daniel Bryan

One of my favorite Randy Savage promos is when he states that “the cream of the crop, always rises to the top”. Such is the case of Daniel Bryan. After a brief hiatus due to choking Justin Roberts with his own tie and sponsors complaining, Bryan returned at Summerslam to face the Nexus. Since that time he has been a former US and World Heavyweight Champion. He is currently a focal point of both RAW and Smackdown with Kane as part of the tag team champions Team Hell No. Daniel Bryan has shown that he has what it takes to stay at the top of the card and he consistently gets some of the best reactions, both heel and babyface, in all of wrestling. Daniel Bryan is basically the Anti-Michael Tarver.

Grade A+

 

Justin Gabriel

Gabriel, like Slater, floundered immediately after the disbanding of Nexus. He has since gone babyface which seems natural given his crowd pleasing 450 splash finisher. Gabriel was hurt for a while and needed to take time off. While still a regular on NXT, Justin has formed a team with Tyson Kidd. The team is still in its infancy but they paid do have matching tights, which is a start. There is potential for this team but time will tell if they get a break.

Grade: C-

 

Darren Young

Speaking of tag teams, “Mr No Nights Off” Darren Young has formed the Prime Time Players with Titus O’Neal and the duo is one of the more entertaining in wrestling. Young stayed on NXT where no one really saw him for the year preceding Nexus but once he and O’Neal were allowed on Smackdown, the entertainment began. The Prime Time Players have received multiple tag team title shots but have been the victims of the WWE writing process. That is, win one lose one. Darren Young has definitely shown personality and potential in this team and if they just keep doing what they are doing, everything should be fine in the career of Darren Young in the future.

Grade: C+

 

David Otunga

Mr Jennifer Hudson came into Nexus as the A Lister and was one of the more prominent members of the group. He held the tag team titles with John Cena and Michael McGillicutty When Nexus became no more, Otunga switched gears and relied on his Harvard Law background rather than his celebrity wife and became the legal advisor to John Lauranitias. Even with the departure of Big Johnny, Otunga has kept with his legal gimmick, most recently aligning with Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo in their feud with Sheamus. He carries around his now signature coffee thermos backstage and, while still awful in the ring, he has a character that should have some longevity in the company.

Grade: C+

 

Skip Sheffield

When the Nexus was reaching its peak around Summerslam I saw a lot of potential in Skip. Sadly, just as I was seeing his potential he was hurt and badly. Sheffield broke his ankle and required three surgeries that kept him out of action for over a year. When he returned it was as Ryback, a character that he had played in developmental before being Sheffield and began to beat jobbers and start and undefeated streak that continues as of this writing. Ryback started then beating multiple jobbers and is now up to beating lower and midcard wrestlers. While the comparisons to Goldberg continue, Ryback is starting to get more over and there are no signs with discontinuing his push.

Grade: B-

 

Wade Barrett

I figured I’d finish up with the leader, Wade Barrett. Barrett was the beneficiary of main events while in the Nexus but after he was removed from Nexus by CM Punk (arg…don’t ask) Barrett went down to the midcard to lead The Corre. The Corre consisted of Gabriel, Slater, and Ezekial Jackson. Wade would win the Intercontinental title and then drop it to Jackson, who was kicked out of the Corre by this time. Later he would announce the “Barrett Barrage” and indicate that his time leading groups was over. He went on a small win streak and feuded with Randy Orton in the fall/winter of 2011. An injury in February of 2012 has just seen Barrett come back in September. He now sports a beard and a more aggressive bare-knuckle boxing style but the Barrett Barrage name continues. There is still a lot of potential and the WWE is apparently high on Barrett so time will tell if he can get back into the main events.

Grade: B

Even though Nexus had a relatively short run as a group (although less than a year isn’t exactly unusual for 2012 wrestling standards sadly) it has brought us a wide variety of wrestling talent that will shape the WWE roster for years to come. The way the group just ended is something that I would rather not think about right now. Instead I choose to remember the high points of the group and the entertainment that it brought.

 

Agree? Disagree? Did I miss something? I’d love to hear from you at addie@wetalkwrestling.com