Back in 2010, The Nexus quickly became one of the most talked about acts in wrestling when they debuted and essentially took over WWE programming for months. The Nexus established themselves as a force to be reckoned, but the group’s momentum was halted when Team WWE defeated Team Nexus in a 7 on 7 tag team match that main evented SummerSlam.
Over the years there’s been a lot of debate about the finish and the lasting impact it had on The Nexus. Originally Nexus was supposed to go over, and David Otunga confirmed on Insight with Chris Van Vliet that the finish was changed.
When asked if he thinks it’s true that John Cena buried Nexus, David Otunga said, “Oh yeah, that’s 100% accurate. I mean, that’s what happened, that is what happened.”
Otunga confirmed that Cena wanted to go over when he added, “Yes. And I don’t know why he wanted to go over, but we knew all day we were supposed to go over, and then things started getting weird, and then they tell us, no, the finish changed, and it’s because John wanted to go over, and we weren’t happy about that. The other guys in the match weren’t happy about that. And if I’m being honest, I think John probably knows that wasn’t the right idea. I mean, maybe obviously, at the time, he thought that was the right call, but in retrospect, I don’t even think he would agree that that was the right thing to do.”
David Otunga noted that he doesn’t remember the exact details regarding the finish, but Nexus was supposed to go over. He also addressed rumors that Vince McMahon wanted SummerSlam to end on a happy note.
“I’ve heard that before too, because I know on house shows they would do that, have the babyface up at the end, but not necessarily on pay-per-views. Maybe that did come into play, and they thought about that, but that still wasn’t the right idea. That’s like, you know, winning the battle, but losing the war ultimately.”