Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jun 23, 2011 10:24:00 GMT -5
In a couple of years time when the dust has settled, I'd love to see some Rewriting The Book-type things on what could have happened had the Nexus been booked right and without the various disasters and injuries that occurred.
I've been working on one in my spare time, where the story is based on "What if Daniel Bryan wasn't fired?". It will probably never be finished (writing 9 months worth of compelling wrestling angles with the same quality as those over at WrestleCrap is just not possible for me), but it does involve the following...
{Spoiler}
- The group takes responsibility for The Undertaker's absence in the middle of the year instead of Kane, leading to a PPV match at Fatal 4-Way which Wade Barrett wins. Later on, they cost John Cena the WWE Championship in the RAW Fatal 4-Way match, just like what happened in reality.
- Costing Cena the title in the rematch against Sheamus at Money In The Bank, just like what happened.
- Most importantly, they win at SummerSlam (with Bryan on their side, their opponents are Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, The Miz, Big Show, CM Punk and Bret Hart).
- Darren Young still gets kicked out, having been the first eliminated at SummerSlam. The Nexus now sets their sights on the various championship belts, which leads to David Otunga (I know, just roll with me here) and Skip Sheffield winning the Tag Team Championship, Bryan winning the US Championship and Barrett winning the WWE Championship at Night Of Champions. Using the "tag title holders can appear on either brand" privilege, the entire group now occasionally appears on SmackDown. This later leads to Justin Gabriel winning the IC Championship, ensuring a Nexus monopoly on the male championships.
- Barrett defends the title against Randy Orton in the Hell In A Cell at... Hell In A Cell. With The Nexus not only locked out, but banned from ringside, things look bleak. However, Barrett wins after assistance from a new ally... Kaval, who officially joins the group.
- In his most difficult match so far, Barrett retains the title by DQ over Cena at Bragging Rights. With Cena standing tall, there is a glimmer of hope in WWE for the first time in months.
- But it is extinguished when Barrett defeats Cena in a Career vs Career match at Survivor Series, meaning that Cena is fired.
- The first chinks in the armour start appearing at TLC, when Sheffield and Otunga lose the tag titles (to The South Beach Party Boys, Young and Percy Watson) and Gabriel loses the IC title. But the end of the night sees Barrett retain once again, defeating Edge in his signature TLC match.
- Next, Barrett retains the belt over the returning Undertaker at the Royal Rumble, albeit after mass interference. Meanwhile, the first 40 Man Rumble is won by the returning Cena, having been allowed a discretionial wildcard entry as a previous winner.
- At Elimination Chamber, Barrett barely retains the title in a brutal Elimination Chamber match. However, after the match Cena comes out from the crowd and beats him down before being dragged away by security.
- Between EC and WrestleMania, members start getting mysteriously taken out one by one each week, obviously by Cena as purple wristbands get left with the bodies. First man down is Otunga, then Michael Tarver and Heath Slater. Kaval quits the group in fear of his safety, only to get beaten down by the remaining members of the group.
- Finally, in what is possibly the hottest WrestleMania main event in years, Cena finally defeats Barrett for the WWE Championship, freeing the belt from The Nexus's clutches for the first time in over 6 months. Meanwhile, in the undercard, Kaval defeats Bryan for the US Championship in a wrestling classic, shaking hands afterwards and planting the seeds for a Bryan face turn later in the year. Gabriel and Sheffield also appear in a 10-man Money In The Bank match.
That's pretty much the gist of it. It would obviously be more detailed eventually, but I think that could have worked pretty well. Cena does win in the end, but hopefully the journey there would have been compelling and by then Barrett and most of the rest of the group would hopefully have been over enough to sustain singles pushes after the breakup.