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What's the story?
In an appearance on the Wrestling Inc. podcast, Heath Slater revealed that the member of Nexus had no idea that they were going to be introduced onto the main roster as a group. The One-Man Band said that the original eight believed they were going to be fired as opposed to promoted.
In case you didn't know...
The angle eventually spluttered into nothing following a DDT on the outside and unbeatable power of 2010 John Cena, but the debut of Nexus on RAW in June 2010 lives long in the memory. The faction was made up of the rookies from NXT season one, who came out during the main event of RAW and laid waste to anything and everything in their way.
Led by Wade Barrett, the group (made up of Daniel Bryan, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Skip Sheffield [Ryback], Michael Tarver, Justin Gabriel and David Otunga) took out John Cena and destroyed the ringside area in one of the most memorable debuts in WWE history. Seven years on, only Heath Slater remains as an active in-ring performer in the company.
The heart of the matter
In his appearance on the podcast, Heath Slater reminisced about the beginnings of the Nexus faction. The group were called into Vince McMahon's office, and not a single member had any idea what they were getting into.
"We all thought we were getting fired"
The truth couldn't have been further from that, and the group were told that they would be making a debut for the ages. Slater said that it took a while for the news to sink in, but the faction was immediately ready to make its mark on WWE RAW.
"We went down there and beat the hell out of everyone, including the announcers and refs and whoever we saw, and we had fun doing it"
Slater went on to talk about the genuine heat the faction had with the WWE Universe, along with a host of other topics. The podcast can be listened to below.
What's next?
Seven years on from that memorable debut, just one man remains. Heath Slater has had a fairly anonymous 2017, as his team with Rhyno has faded into the background on RAW. Will 2018 see a change in fortunes for Beauty and the Man Beast?
Author's take
The debut of Nexus was one of the most engrossing endings to RAW in memory. The way the faction died is still a sore point for many, not to mention WWE's failure to make a major star out of talented performers like Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel.
No matter the failings of WWE Creative in the years following it, the debut will live on forever as a truly memorable moment.
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