2-time WWE Tag Team Champion was originally planned to take over The Nexus after Wade Barrett; not CM Punk

After Wade Barrett was kicked out of The Nexus, CM Punk took over as leader of The New Nexus. Punk was not originally planned as the head honcho of the new stable, but a former two-time WWE tag team champion.

Less than a year after their introduction, The Nexus went under "new management," which was revealed as The Straightedge Superstar. Punk would lead The New Nexus until he left WWE after beating John Cena to win the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank.

In an appearance on TMZ's Inside The Ring podcast, David Otunga revealed that he was the original leader of The New Nexus. He was the one who told Wade Barrett he was out of the group before WWE went with CM Punk instead.

"We we were The New Nexus, which I was the leader of. I had high hopes for us and we started turning things around but CM Punk happened to us. I told Wade Barrett on Raw, 'You’re out, we voted you out,' basically. And now, going into that, I was going to take over the Nexus. Everybody was excited. Literally, the next week, CM Punk comes out, and he’s our leader now. And so we’re like, ‘Wait, what? Why did we even have this storyline?’ From what I heard, Punk needed a new faction," Otunga said.

Punk was coming off The Straightedge Society, so he needed a new group. It was probably the best thing for The Second City Saint back then because it led to his WWE Championship win at Money in the Bank.

Wade Barrett called out WWE Shop for having a CM Punk Nexus shirt

Amid his return to WWE, CM Punk had some retro shirts made available at the shop, including a New Nexus shirt. However, the original leader of the group, Wade Barrett, wasn't happy with the merchandise department for bringing in new Nexus merchandise.

"A NEXUS shirt?! WTF is this BS? And who in the merch dept. is getting a slap this Friday? cc @DMcIntyreWWE," Barrett tweeted.

The Nexus is one of the biggest "what ifs" in WWE history. They made a name for themselves by making a statement on their debut before losing steam at SummerSlam 2010.

Please credit TMZ and give a H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the quote from the first half of this article.

About the author

Juan Paolo David has been covering all things WWE for Sportskeeda since 2020 and has eight years of experience in content writing. He holds a degree in Agriculture but has been a fan of pro wrestling since a kid. This love for the entertainment sport led him to write about it.

Juan writes well-researched articles, not only to ensure that he presents readers with correct facts and figures but also because he wants to learn as much as possible about the topics he writes about.

Edge is Juan’s all-time favorite wrestler. He grew up watching Edge and Christian and was a huge fan of their tag team. So much so, that if he could go back in time he would manage the duo. And let them know that he can play their entrance themes with a kazoo!

Besides wrestling, Juan loves to watch NBA or a Dortmund game. He also enjoys watching TV and movies during his free time. He works as a writer in SK’s basketball division.

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Edited by JP David