Where are they now: The Nexus 7, 7 Years Later

In the summer of 2010, WWE launched an ambitious angle. A stable of fresh faces debut on the main roster and run roughshod as a new unit. They first appeared by attacking John Cena at the end of an episode of Monday Night Raw.

The assault culminated in them tearing apart the ringside area and hitting anything that moved. The scene was vile enough for notable group member Daniel Bryan to legitimately lose his job on account of choking Justin Roberts with his tie—a violation of an unspoken rule about conduct allowed on WWE TV.

The seven remaining members would largely dominate the summer, including taking out visiting legends and Vince McMahon himself. The angle culminated in a showdown at SummerSlam between the rookie faction and seven established WWE stars. Joh Cena played captain to the crew of Chris Jericho, Edge, John Morrison, R-Truth, and Bret Hart (plus, as a last minute substitution, a returning Daniel Bryan).

The establishment team would win the match, largely cutting off The Nexus’s momentum, though the stable did remain a featured group for the months to follow. In the immediate aftermath of the SummerSlam showdown, WWE generally received some criticism for the match’s booking, but also praise for pushing seven new stars (eight if you count Bryan) to the main event scene for the first time. But what were the long-term trajectories for the Nexus seven?

This column looks at their progress over the course of these last seven years.

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#7. Heath Slater

Heath Slater is still on WWE's active roster.

Most fans would have balked at the idea that Heath Slater would be the last man remaining on WWE’s active roster seven years later. While he was a decent talent, he came across as a merely adequate face, and a bit miscast as a heel in the early going.

As fate would have it, Slater would find himself when the company let him show more personality, and he came of age as largely comedic performer. He worked a fun gimmick of getting beat up by returning legends for a stint. Later, his One Man and then Three Man Band gimmick provided further funny programming for his delusions of grandeur.

Most recently, Slater made good on a face turn. In the new brand split, Slater found himself a free agent. Desperate to earn a contract, he sought to enter the SmackDown Tag Team Championship tournament. Rhyno came to his aid, to form a delightful odd couple. It’s unclear if the pair were intended to win the tournament, but Slater’s magnetism and Rhyno’s nostalgia appeal got the crowd hooked and they took home the titles.

#6. Darren Young

Darren Young came out as WWE's first openly gay active performer.

Darren Young was one of the less featured members of the Nexus stable, as evidenced by his performance in the Nexus’s big main event opportunity at SummerSlam 2010. In the elimination tag team match, Young wouldn’t survive the first minute—tapping out to Daniel Bryan at approximately the forty second mark. He would hang with the group in the aftermath, though, hanging around for its duration including a leadership change that saw CM Punk take the reins.

Despite the shaky start, Young would enjoy unlikely longevity on the WWE roster—second to only Heath Slater for the longest tenure with the company. He’d go on to success as half of the Prime Time Players with Titus O’Neil, winning the tag titles once. Additionally, he’d make headlines as WWE’s first openly gay active performer. Unfortunately, he’d never get much traction as a singles wrestler, though, and was ultimately let go this past fall.

#5. Ryback

Ryback was a main eventer on and off for years after the Nexus angle.

No member of the Nexus may have reinvented himself more than Ryback. Originally billed as Skip Sheffield he was the muscle of the stable and got a particularly featured spot in their SummerSlam main event. He pinned both John Morrison and R-Truth in that match, and only succumbed to tandem offence from the opposing team.

It may have been a blessing in disguise when The Big Guy got injured and was out of action for most of The Nexus’s decline in the months to follow. He’d resurface the following spring under his new gimmick as a dominant face. He’d get a nice push as a headlining face and then a headlining heel before his momentum trailed off.

Ryback was largely directionless and inconsistently booked for the final couple years of his tenure. In the end, he chose not to re-sign with WWE and has since been pursuing his own ventures in the fitness industry while accepting independent bookings.

#4. Wade Barrett

Bad timing and questionable creative never allowed Barrett to realize his full potential in WWE.

Wade Barrett was cast as the leader of the Nexus stable. It was an understandable enough move, as he was one of the best talkers of the group, a good worker, and had the size WWE typically desires in its top stars.

Out of the group, he was the one to get the most singles opportunities, including PPV matches with John Cena and even challenging Randy Orton for a world title at Survivor Series 2010.

Barrett would hang around WWE for quite some time, including two significant character reinventions as a bare-knuckle brawler, and then as Bad News Barrett. He would get his pushes, including capturing the Intercontinental Championship and winning a King of the Ring tournament. A combination of poorly timed injuries and uneven bookings saw him stall out, though. In the end, he finished his WWE tenure working as part of the lukewarm League of Nations stable.

It's a shame because there were rumours that he was supposed to be the man to end The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 27 back in 2011.

Since leaving the company he surfaced for What Culture Pro Wrestling (more recently renamed Defiant Wrestling) as a commentator and authority figure.

#3. David Otunga

David Otunga has worked for years as a broadcaster, but his personal demons may be catching up to him.

David Otunga looked to be a featured performer coming out of the original NXT TV series. He had a killer physique and the gift of gab. You can add onto that the real-life pedigree of graduating from Harvard Law School, and a real marriage to Jennifer Hudson. Combine all of these factors, and he was exactly the kind of star WWE would love to push. Unfortunately, his limited in-ring skills were exposed time and again during the Nexus run.

Otunga was relegated to mostly a broadcast role in recent years. Things took an ugly turn for his personal life as news broke this fall of his separation from his wife. In the aftermath, she filed for a restraining order, accusing Otunga of physical abuse.

Otunga has denied the allegations, and it’s unclear what they may mean for his standing with WWE. The company typically suspends or outright releases parties who may be mixed up with domestic violence.

#2. Justin Gabriel

After his WWE career came up short Justin Gabriel has been thriving on the indies.

Justin Gabriel got a nice push as part of The Nexus. Out of everyone in the stable, he may have benefited the most from Daniel Bryan’s early exile and Skip Sheffield getting hurt. He was slotted in a second in command position behind Wade Barrett and booked competitively in big match opportunities against John Cena and stars of comparable stature.

Gabriel’s star faded fast after the Nexus went its separate ways. While he would get screen time as part of the Corre faction, a face turn would see him wind up mostly directionless. He teamed with Tyson Kidd for a spell and then worked mostly for NXT before Gabriel chose not to re-sign with WWE.

Gabriel would reinvent himself on the indies under the gimmick of The Darewolf PJ Black. Most notably, he’d surface on the Lucha Underground roster, teaming up with Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, Taya, and Ricky Mandel to form the successful Worldwide Underground group.

#1. Michael Tarver

Michael Tarver didn't have much to do with WWE post-Nexus.

Michael Tarver was a bruising member of the Nexus stable, who looked genuinely intimidating and worked an effective striking style. Tarver wouldn’t do so well once the Nexus settled into regular wrestling, though. He was the second man eliminated from the Nexus’s SummerSlam main event—not making it five minutes into the match. He’d suffer a groin injury afterwards and was largely buried as a character as Wade Barrett suggested he was going to fire him from the stable anyway. Tarver would appear lurking in the background on WWE television months later but wound up released before that storyline could ever play out.

Tarver has stuck with wrestling, working for a variety of independent promotions since he left WWE. While it doesn’t seem all that likely he’ll ever make it back to WWE, he’s an example of one of the many talents making a living on the contemporary indie landscape.