CM Punk leading The Nexus

[Main Eventer]

CM Punk as the leader could have saved the Nexus after Cena was done with them at TLC, but all Punk reign as leader was getting eliminated by Cena at The Rumble, then getting killed by Orton.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

It was horrible. Punk is the worst stable leader ever.

[Hit Girl]

Punk was fine as a stable leader when the stable is his own, like SES

But he was just awkwardly plugged into the Nexus leader role, and it didn't work

By that point he Nexus had already been demasculated by the Cena-driven booking.

[unc40]

[OzzyMandez]

Great on paper, terrible in execution.

[edgestar]

Barrett Nexus>>>>>>> Punk Nexus for me

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Jan 3, 2015 20:48:19 GMT -5 thelonewolf527 said:

I still to this day have no idea why so many people thought heel cult leader Punk was going to win the Rumble when The Miz was champion

I guess people really wanted him to bounce back after the end of The Straight-Edge Society. And a lot of people were hoping for Cena v Punk at WrestleMania as well, even though Miz was WWE Champion at the time.

Looking through the thread of the time, the other hot picks were Cena (for either Miz v Cena, which did happen, or Orton v Cena, since Orton was in the title match against Miz that night, and you know how much they love that pairing) and Morrison (for Miz v Morrison). Hardly anyone picked Del Rio.

(Funnily enough, people were bringing up the possibility of the then recently-signed Seth Rollins making his debut in this match as a New Nexus or Corre member)

[BigWill]

Jan 3, 2015 20:48:19 GMT -5 thelonewolf527 said:

I still to this day have no idea why so many people thought heel cult leader Punk was going to win the Rumble when The Miz was champion

I think a lot of people were hoping for Cena vs. Punk for the title at WrestleMania.

I don't exactly remember how that would have been set up, but it sounded like a good idea at the time.

[mizerable]

Jan 3, 2015 20:27:53 GMT -5 @tdj said:

I remember legitimately laughing out loud when Barrett said, after Young got kicked out and Tarver (legit looked like he wanted to murder people) and Sheffield (straight-up beast of a man) got injured... that adding Tubby Harris and Michael McSillyputty would make the Nexus "stronger than ever".

Yeah, the thing with Bryan originally was fine since he seemingly "questioned their actions", but eliminating weakness? How was Young weak by losing in a semi-competent match against Cena? Wouldn't you be weaker by being down one guy? And wasn't that better than winning fluke matches like several others did that night? That was the moment I realized that the Nexus story was going nowhere and that this was going to be just another means for Cena to eventually overcome.

The idea of making Barrett crazy over time could have really been interesting and worked by eventually doing the same thing by eliminating anyone who didn't follow his sadistic orders. By virtue, they could have shown that Barrett originally had a principle that he tried to enact by getting an equal share for his brothers, but over the course of months had him get drunk with power and be corrupted once he started realizing what kind of power he held. Over time he would make enemies of his peers and eventually be taken down by the former comrades he abandoned. That could have elevated several guys over time.

Instead...Cena wins. I mean...Orton wins. I mean....Santino...wins?

[Chainsaw]

It was a great idea for what it was, I just wish they had done more with it. Instead of it being Punk rebuilding with a bunch of castoffs, if they had done it with more of the actual original Nexus guys, it could have been gangbusters. But it led to the Pipebomb promo and the Summer Of Punk, so who knows if they would have gone that way if it hadn't.

[thelonewolf527]

Jan 4, 2015 1:50:17 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Jan 3, 2015 20:48:19 GMT -5 thelonewolf527 said:

I still to this day have no idea why so many people thought heel cult leader Punk was going to win the Rumble when The Miz was champion

I guess people really wanted him to bounce back after the end of The Straight-Edge Society. And a lot of people were hoping for Cena v Punk at WrestleMania as well, even though Miz was WWE Champion at the time.

Looking through the thread of the time, the other hot picks were Cena (for either Miz v Cena, which did happen, or Orton v Cena, since Orton was in the title match against Miz that night, and you know how much they love that pairing) and Morrison (for Miz v Morrison). Hardly anyone picked Del Rio.

(Funnily enough, people were bringing up the possibility of the then recently-signed Seth Rollins making his debut in this match as a New Nexus or Corre member)

I actually predicted Del Rio to win. I'm not sure what that was based on looking back, but I guess I knew something at the time

[MOONDOG]

iirc i was angry with it because Punk had just thrown down with Cena.
I thought it made Punk look " weaker " to have to have backup.

[Allie Kitsune]

Jan 4, 2015 2:54:17 GMT -5 Chainsaw said:

It was a great idea for what it was, I just wish they had done more with it. Instead of it being Punk rebuilding with a bunch of castoffs, if they had done it with more of the actual original Nexus guys, it could have been gangbusters. But it led to the Pipebomb promo and the Summer Of Punk, so who knows if they would have gone that way if it hadn't.

I actually liked the whole idea of HEATH JUSTIN looking at each other, saying "F-This", and staying loyal to Barrett.

That was a pretty cool moment, honestly.

Slater and Gabriel need to get back together and be awesome again.

[radiantsilvergun]

There were a few memorable moments that came out of it. Punk pushing Barrett off the cage was crazy and so was the suicide jumper promo.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Jan 3, 2015 20:48:19 GMT -5 thelonewolf527 said:

I still to this day have no idea why so many people thought heel cult leader Punk was going to win the Rumble when The Miz was champion

I don't think that many people expected Miz to be champ going into Mania.

[Deleted]

I still say what they should have done was had the Corre be antiheroes with them and Orton aligning to fight New Nexus at Mania. Would've been better than all the garbage we actually got out of those two stables.

Granted, what really should have happened is Barrett wins the title at Survivor Series, fires Cena anyway through some loophole, Cena has to win his way back on the roster and into the Rumble by winning NXT and going through the same things Nexus did, Cena beats him at Mania, then the next night Rock lays Cena out to set up Mania 28 and Miz cashes in.

[Deleted]

Remember when CM Punk told people to have faith, then there was this big Mason Ryan reveal?

The crowd was very quiet. I think it's because they were talking amongst themselves. "Batista? No wait, that's not Batista...hmm, wait is it? Oh. No it's not Batista."

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I think it speaks volumes that I had forgotten that Punk led the New Nexus for so long. I remember him in the 2011 Rumble, and I remember the pipebomb, and absolutely nothing in between, which now that I think about it, is a six month period.

[A Platypus Rave]

Jan 3, 2015 18:51:21 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Jan 3, 2015 18:31:19 GMT -5 @tdj said:

Perfectly stated.





They were just bodies for Punk, and I guess an excuse to clear the warehouses out of all the armbands and "N" shirts they had sitting around.



The way that McGillicutty, Otunga, and Ryan were taken out before Wrestlemania by Orton was sad.





That being said, I LOVED the yellow Punk "Aftershock" shirt. Still sitting in my attic somewhere, albeit two sizes too big.

This could have been Punk's "iconic" shirt had they just re-released it without the N logo.

It was...


the nexus was the alt version they released after a while of the plain one.

[Crappler El 0 M]

CM Punk did the best he could with the gimmick, but it was a poor decision to break-up the Nexus into two groups and move Barrett away from the Nexus.