Five Years Ago Today, The Nexus Changed The Face Of WWE And Delivered A Number Of Today’s Stars

On June 7, 2010, a group of young stars in WWE developmental walked out on Monday Night Raw, and made a huge name for themselves. The Nexus debuted, and it actually brought a bit of a start to NXT as they took over the airwaves during the main event, and ended up delivering some of today’s biggest wrestling stars.

During the main event of Raw, John Cena was taking on CM Punk, who had the Straight-Edge Society with him at ringside. As the match went on, Cena got the upper-hand on Punk and looked up at the stage to see Wade Barrett (now King Barrett) had walked out.

Cena became a bit hesitant and continued his attack on Punk. That was when it happened.

Seven other men — Daniel Bryan, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Justin Gabriel, Skip Sheffield, and Michael Tarver — jumped the barricades around the ring. They attacked Luke Gallows and CM Punk. They beat down Matt Striker and Jerry Lawler while chasing off Michael Cole.

It was then that they hopped up on the apron and surrounded John Cena. All eight men slowly entered the ring and then absolutely demolished Cena, the hero of WWE. Many of them delivered their finishing moves and just destroyed him.

As Cena lay there motionless, the men took turns hitting him with big moves. The others walked around the ringside area and just took it apart. Ring crew members and announcers were beaten if they got in the way.

The ring was taken apart. The announcer’s desk was turned upside-down. The mats on the cement floor were torn up. The ring ropes were taken off of their hinges.

Wade Barrett picked up Cena and delivered a big-time Wasteland near one of the corners. At that point, Justin Gabriel climbed up to the top rope, stared menacingly down at Cena, and delivered a devastating 450 splash.

The crowd booed and stared on in awe as these youngsters, these newbies, were beating down a future hall of famer and taking over Monday Night Raw.

They would later go on to be known as The Nexus, and they stayed together for quite some time until they all drifted in different directions. Now, five of them are still with the company, and have done quite well during their time with WWE

Wade Barrett is known as King Barrett after winning the King of the Ring tournament and he’s won the Intercontinental Title five times. Heath Slater is used for mostly comical purposes in WWE, but he’s had his moments.

Darren Young is currently a part of the Prime Time Players who are the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team titles. The PTP will face The New Day for the titles at Money In The Bank next week.

Daniel Bryan is easily one of the most popular stars in all of WWE today, and he has won numerous titles — World Heavyweight Title, WWE Title (three times), WWE Intercontinental Title, WWE Tag Team Titles, WWE United States Title, and Money In The Bank.

Skip Sheffield is now known as Ryback, and he just recently won the WWE Intercontinental Title. He’s been involved in a number of huge feuds and that includes with John Cena.

David Otunga doesn’t wrestle much anymore, but he is a huge ambassador for WWE. During his time in the ring, he did win the WWE Tag Team Titles on two different occasions.

Michael Tarver was only with WWE for about another year after the debut of The Nexus on Raw. Justin Gabriel was with WWE until earlier this year when he left right around the time of the Royal Rumble.

The Nexus was a huge deal when it happened five years ago, and it was an incredible angle that WWE pulled off successfully. Since then, the majority of the members have gone on to be very successful, and it was one of the most memorable moments in wrestling history.

[Images via WWE]