J. Bruiser's Black and Bruised Feature: The Nexus

It isn’t out of the ordinary for the WWE to run a big angle that usually has the fans clamoring. This year is no different as RAW is in the middle of one of their bigger angles of the year. The Nexus, a group of rag tag rookies fed up with the “challenges” they had to endure on season one of NXT have seemingly taken charge of Monday Nights and on a larger scale, the WWE. In my first Black and Bruised Feature, we’re going to examine The Nexus and what works and doesn’t.

What Works:

Presence: You know, I am overly happy with the way this angle has progressed so far. From the beginning, I’ve been wowed by these eight seven rookies who at first appeared like they couldn’t hang with any of the main eventers. But there’s something more interesting about the Nexus seven. Before on NXT, these guys had unique personalities that definitely set them apart from each other. Darren Young was the South Beach party boy who was reluctant yet willing to follow the ways of his pro CM Punk in order to succeed in the business. Skip Sheffield was the fan favorite self imposed “Cornfed Meathead.” David Otunga was the bigger than life A-List celebrity wrestler. What the Nexus has done has stripped these personalities away in place of a more unified, militant cause. Now I’m usually against the whole “scrapping the personality” bit when it comes to pro wrestling, but here I think it works tremendously well. Their solemn expressions just contrast with these guys so much, that it just oozes awesomeness. (Look at Justin Gabriel before he hits the 450 Splash). I mean they’ve even managed to make Heath Slater look evil! Now the fans went from generally not knowing who these guys are to instantly recognizing each and every one of their faces. (And the amount of heel heat these guys generate is uncanny.)

These guys are all fed up with the challenges they had to do on NXT, and they give the vibe that they’re fed up with how the way business is being handled in the WWE. These once bright personalities stand united for a greater cause, and the best part about their presence is we still don’t know exactly what the bigger picture is. All we know is that this bigger picture is apparently important enough to band these seven rookies together to form an unstoppable alliance the likes of which we haven’t seen since the nWo in the WCW days.

Wade Barrett:

Chris Jericho should be happy, since we’re all talking about Barrett MORE! I wanted to reserve a special section for the leader of the Nexus, who has been nothing short of utter brilliance. Of all the Nexus members, Wade Barrett is the most polished, promising athlete. I just love how his winning speech on NXT about the winds of change is the literal battle cry of the movement. And to many new WWE fans in the past decade, Barrett represents something completely fresh. A tall brute of an Englishman gathers a faction and invades our beloved WWE Universe. I might be looking way too much into it, but Barrett has been great here. He certainly knows how to cut a promo and has the ring presence to prove it. The fact that everything that Wade Barrett says seems so much more consequential than it actually is, is always a good thing. Also, he knows how to dominate a ring apron.

Booking Style:

The Nexus easily went from a couple of unknown NXTers to a dominant force to be reckoned with. It couldn’t have worked without them interfering in the RAW brand’s most important matches and typically pounding down anyone they felt was in their way. They have managed to do this without having the beatdowns feel repetitive. Once that they proved that they could take out anyone they wanted, they didn’t have to rely on a large scale beating. This method of booking has been entirely too effective. As a viewer, you get the sense that the Nexus can use their might at any chance that they feel fit, and when they’re around, you get a “Aww Hell!” type of feeling. This has been done so properly that it just feels so right.

The Heroes versus Villains Feel:

Professional wrestling has always been a soap drama meets a comic book type of a deal, and sometimes within the realms of sports entertainment, you tend to forget the entertainment part of wrestling and just go straight for wrestling. (I know as I fan I don’t, but that’s a different entry for a different day.) But the Nexus angle has been successful in creating this great sense of super villains running amuck. Dare I say, it reminds me of the Maximum Carnage Spider-Man arc the folks at Marvel ran in the 90’s. The inner child in me gets giddy every time I tune in for RAW. You always get this impression of urgency between the Nexus and the RAW superstars. I even love the way they’re referred to by other superstars by being this threat to them and the WWE. I’m also loving the fact that the “super heroes” or Team WWE can’t seem to get along with the emphasis of the greater threat. The whole storyline and exchange between these two factions are nothing short of comic book like, and it certainly is fantastically refreshing to see a stable dominate the world, or in this case the WWE Universe.

What Doesn’t Work:

Needs More Tarver

There is something that needs to be said about Michael Tarver. Since his debut on NXT and the showcasing of the rookies, I thought that the guy definitely had the it factor. He could talk, he’s got a good physique, and his look is unique. His showing on Season One of NXT, however, was abysmal at best. He failed at pretty much all of the challenges that he took part in, lost all of his matches with his one win being over the nonexistent Daniel Bryan, and he seemed generally apathetic. But the Nexus angle has most definitely turned everything around. When they started what would be many attacks on John Cena, Michael Tarver was the second rookie to appear in the crowd with that grizzly ski mask and that dour expression. And it absolutely scared me. His voice commands attention and instead of laughing at him, I kinda fear him. The way he makes those googly eyes with the ski mask after a backstage confrontation are downright terrifying I’d have to imagine for a younger audience member. Michael Tarver is another gem of the Nexus seven that absolutely needs to be showcased more, and while we’re on the subject of individual wrestlers…

David “A-List” Otunga

Right off the bad, let me be clear here. I’m not one of those fans or observers who get all hung up in workrate or whatever that nonsense is. I’m a wrestling fan. I’ve been one since I was three years old, and I’m happy to say that it has always been in my blood. Now with that little aside out of the way, let me also say this. David Otunga needs more work. I mean, needs A LOT more work. Pretty much all of his single matches consist of him throwing punches, doing a strange variation of an abdominal stretch, a shoulder block here and there and a weak looking spine buster as a finisher. (This is even MORE problematic considering Vladimir Kozlov is on the same brand and does that very same spine buster with much more impact.) Now don’t get me wrong, I like Otunga. I like his star power, as he just oozes charisma and can easily get the crowd to hate him or love him. The same positive marks cannot be said about his wrestling style, or lack thereof. I certainly don’t think he’s the power of the group considering they have Skip Sheffield who looks like an absolute monster with that murderous looking clothesline. So I’m not sure what he does. But Otunga needs to pick up some more maneuvers so his matches can have some variety in them. And for God’s sake, make that spine buster look tougher. And sure, why don’t I throw in…

No Daniel Bryan!

A lot of fans have been clamoring about Bryan’s firing and where that would leave him in the storyline. And its not hard to see why; Daniel Bryan was certainly something special. I’ve only heard his name brought up a couple of times, (Because apparently, he’s the greatest wrestler in the world) so seeing him on NXT, I was definitely wowed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move like that since Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit. I just can’t help but feel that Daniel Bryan would have been PERFECT for this storyline, and he would have gotten his true chance to shine. When he screamed “You are not better than me!” at Cena, I was sure that we were going to see the true Daniel Bryan, and possibly a confrontation with The Miz somewhere down the line. It’s a serious shame Daniel Bryan was fired for that whole choking fiasco, really. I’m sure he’ll be back (hopefully), but it sucks not having him apart of the Nexus.

No SmackDown! Attacks?

I’m really confused about this. If it’s a fight for the entire WWE, then why hasn’t the Nexus stepped foot once on the blue brand? It doesn’t seem right to exclude SmackDown! from the Nexus attacks or running amuck though I do sort of see the logic with Teddy Long actually being an authority figure. On RAW, we have no idea if the mystery GM is working behind the scenes with the Nexus (or possibly as the true mastermind!) But they could have taken out Teddy Long at the very least, and created this global cross brand feeling of total anarchy. Don’t tell me they couldn’t get away with it, as they totally decimated Vince McMahon, and he’s the chairman!

Overall, the Nexus angle seems to be moving a full steam ahead. I’m really satisfied with the way everyone has been portrayed here. I understand it’s not exactly easy to run an angle this long without losing steam, but these guys really did this time. I’ll be anxiously awaiting to see what happens next. Will the Nexus continue after tonight? Or will they hang a little longer? I will be attending the 900^th episode of RAW, so hopefully the angle goes until Survivor Series! I’ll give the Nexus angle a A grade!