SummerSlam A to Z: Nexus

Nexus vs. Team WWE
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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The summer of 2010 saw one of the best debuts of new talent in recent years in WWE.  The eight young men from the show NXT showed up during the main event of Raw featuring John Cena versus CM Punk.  Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Darren Young, Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield and Justin Gabriel beat the hell out of Cena, Punk, Luke Gallows, Jerry Lawler and even ring announcer Justin Roberts.

Nexus with the advantage
Courtesy: WWE

The group identified themselves as Nexus and continued to attack WWE Superstars and Legends, including the company's CEO Vince McMahon in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam.  Along the way Daniel Bryan was fired from the company in real life because he choked Roberts with a tie. But the storyline was that Nexus kicked Bryan out of the group.

Skip Sheffield takes on John Morrison
Courtesy: WWE

Eventually Daniel was rehired by WWE and joined Cena and other WWE Superstars who'd had enough of the of the violent tactics by the Nexus.  This lead to a seven-on-seven elimination match in the main event of SummerSlam 2010.  Cena and Bryan were joined by Bret Hart, Edge, Chris Jericho, R-Truth and John Morrison to defeat the Nexus.  

Winner!
Courtesy: WWE

Cena was the sole survivor, having come back from a two on one disadvantage.  I thought the match should have gone the other way and given Nexus more solid footing.  In the months that followed they floundered in singles and tag matches against other established talent.  Another reason I didn't like this being an elimination match is because it too close to Bragging Rights and Survivor Series, which both featured multi-man elimination matches.

Bryan vs. Barrett
Courtesy: WWE

I think it's fair to say probably half of the Nexus alumni enjoyed success.  The other half is either MIA or not with the WWE anymore.  Bryan, Barrett and Sheffield (now Ryback) have enjoyed singles championship success.  Young and Titus O'Neil of course are the current tag team champions.  They've come a long way over the last five years.

Feed Me Champs

Ryback vs. the Miz
WWE Raw
Photo from WWE.com

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I'm not going to lie, I am not a big fan of Ryback.  To be fair, I wasn't a fan of Skip Sheffield (Ryback's previous character) either.  I just haven't been able to buy into this character.  Yeah, there's a lot of comparing to Goldberg, who I wasn't a fan of either.  Maybe that's why I was hoping they'd take Ryback in a different direction when he returned.

For the last several months, Ryback has eaten his competition alive.  Indie talent like "Jay" Heath Hatton and Aaron Relic (aka Ace Hawkins) have been victims of the beast.  WWE ham and eggers like Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, and JTG have also fallen to Ryback.  On Monday, September 24, Ryback finally got his biggest competition since his matches with Jack Swagger.  Not only did he pin Intercontinental champion, the Miz, he annihilated him.  This to me was very disappointing.  I did not expect the Miz to be the one to end the streak, but I didn't think he'd get beaten so soundly and so quickly either.  Luckily for the WWE Universe this was a non-title match.

Ryback vs. the Miz
WWE Raw
Photo from WWE.com

It appears that victory was mere appetizer for the superstar who wants the WWE to feed him more.  As Raw ended and CM Punk attacked Mick Foley, the champ turned around and looked shocked.  Honestly I was expecting either the Rock, the Undertaker, or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to be standing there.  To me, any one of those guys would have been a major surprise and would elicit the reaction Punk gave.  Instead it was a wheezing and snorting Ryback.  Huh?

I know no one from WWE Creative will read this, but if it does happen to end up in front of someone on the team, please for the love of God, don't do this.  Ryback's assent has been weak in my view.  He needed a better balance of mid to upper talent before sinking his teeth into a couple of champions.  Perhaps though this will be the way the WWE ends the streak.  Punk, in his quest for respect, beats the guy the WWE Universe views as unbeatable.  Now he'll get our respect, right?  Right?

It'll be interesting to see where this angle heads, as Punk seems to be on the Mick Foley's list as well as John Cena's.  What's in store for the champ?  Only time will tell.

Who's Next? Who Cares?

Ryback (from WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents

By now we've all figured out that Ryback is getting the Goldberg treatment.  Week after week for about two months, we've seen the artist formerly known as Skip Sheffield run through the competition.  At first, I was fine with his annihilation of local talent.  But now it's getting a bit boring.

We've seen him on pay per view (against AAPW's Heath "Jay" Hatton and Ace "Aaron Relic" Hawkins), as well as on Raw and SmackDown, squash opponent after opponent in usually three minutes or less.  Honestly I don't know what his record is at this point, but I do think it's time for him to meet someone a little higher on the food chain.

Tensai did his squashes with guys like Alex Riley and R-Truth and even holds pin fall victories over John Cena and WWE champion CM Punk.  His momentum has since cooled, especially after coming out on the losing end against Cena on the most recent episode of Raw.

2>1?

But back to Ryback.  I think the most notable name he's beaten is Camacho, and I'm not even sure how "notable" that should be considered.  I'm not suggesting he be in there with Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, or Daniel Bryan, but why not give him some competition in the form of David Otunga (yeah, I said it), Drew McIntyre, or even "baby Batista" Mason Ryan?  I don't remember it clearly, but I don't think Goldberg spent this much time beating "ham and eggers".  (sorry Heath and Ace)

What do you think?  Are you bored watching Ryback beat jobber after jobber?  It's been two months, and we as wrestling fans have short attention spans these days.  Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and please subscribe to the YouTube channel!

2 is Greater Than 1

Ace Hawkins & Heath Hatton on WWE (WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

For the last few weeks the artist formerly known as Skip Sheffield has been mowing down the competition in the ring.  Ryback has been competing against "local talent" on SmackDown! and on Sunday night at Extreme Rules, his opponents including two wrestlers I personally know.

Billed as Aaron Relic and Jay Hatton on the WWE pay per view, All American Pro Wrestling fans know them better as Ace Hawkins and Heath Hatton.  Readers of My 1-2-3 Cents may remember Heath being included in my Stars of 2012 post earlier this year.

Ace vs. Ryback (WWE)

Even though their prematch promo lasted about as long as the match, it was great to see a couple of our guys in the WWE spotlight.  They may have been demolished by the "terminator" but I can't tell you how proud I am of Ace and Heath.  These two guys have worked hard on the indy scene for the last few years.  It's great to see them getting a little time in the national spotlight.

This may very well be the tip of the iceberg for both Ace and Heath.  I want to again congratulate them and let them know how proud I am of their accomplishments and what they did Sunday at Extreme Rules.  Way to go guys.  I wonder if we can get Heath's "2 is greater than 1" trending.

You can catch both Ace and Heath at the May 19 Collision TV in Marion, IL.  Go to AAPW's website for more details or to watch the two in action.

Fans May End Up Stung

From destroyah.deviantart.com

Since that little clip of a man walking up the steps to a house in the rain aired on Monday Night Raw this week, there has been a lot of buzz as to who it is.
He's wearing what appears to be cowboy boots and a trench coat.  The date 2/21/11 appears at the end of the video.

Many believe it's either the Undertaker, who hasn't been seen on WWE TV since he was "buried alive" by Kane and the Nexus at Bragging Rights.  But really, I don't think it's the Undertaker.  Why would he return on a Monday night.  You'd think he'd return to SmackDown where Wade Barrett the former Nexus leader is now wrestling.

The biggest buzz so far has been that it's Sting.  While I would really like for it to be the Stinger, I'm not hopeful.  The reasons people think it's Sting is because there was a similar promo that aired in 1997 (I think that's the year) prior to his big battle with Hulk Hogan at Starrcade.  Sting coming to the WWE would be monumental, but again I'm not holding my breath.  He's still under contract with TNA from what I've read.  At least he's still listed as a member of the roster.

Of course with the Sting talk, then there's buzz that we'll get Sting vs. Undertaker at Mania.  That's an exciting thought, but would have been even better a decade ago.  Maybe even 15 years ago.  But I digress.

No, I don't think it's Sting or the Undertaker in that video.  I believe it's Skip Sheffield.  You know, the former member of the Nexus.  He broke his ankle over the summer shortly after the gimmick was getting good.

Hear me out, as to why I think that.  The person in the video was wearing cowboy boots and a trench coat. Remember Sheffield's gimmick on NXT?  He was basically a pumped up cowboy.  Another reason I think it's him: Sheffield was recently named one of the 11 to watch in 2011.  I'm sure he's in line for some sort of push.

Of course if it is him, I'll be extremely disappointed.  Especially now that all this talk is centering around it being Sting.  I will say one thing, I believe 2/11/11 will be the most anticipated date since the launch of Y2J back in August 1999.

Thanks for reading.  Watch My 1-2-3 Cents on YouTube too!

Let's Skip, Sheffield Please!

Courtesy: WWE

Okay, I don't write this to be mean or cruel.  Let's get that out of the way.

I have read several online reports that former WWE creative team member John Piermarini has started a blog.  I tried to get on the site today, but it just has the message: "Be Back Soon" so I can't confirm what I'm reading in these reports with his actual site.

But anyway, the claim is that Vince McMahon at some point saw or sees Skip Sheffield as the number 2 babyface in the company, behind John Cena.  Wow.  Really?  I find this claim hard to believe.  I can't imagine anyone in their right mind thinking Skip Sheffield should be the company's second highest profile figure.

Of course, maybe they're talking down the road, I don't know.  What I do know is what I saw of Skip on the first season of NXT I was not impressed.  To me, he seemed to try to hard to be like Stone Cold Steve Austin.  The look, the talk, even his finisher is similar to the Stone Cold Stunner.  I know they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we've been there and done that.  And I do still have the t-shirt.

One reason I believe this online report may be true is due to the fact that Skip was listed pretty high on the WWE.com list "the Top 11 to Watch in 2011."  In fact, he was fifth, and that's saying a lot because he's been out with an injury since August.  

I think if creative could come up with something for him and repackage him, he'd be a legitimate threat, but right now I just see him as another Stone Cold wannabe.  I'll be curious to see if he ends up in the Corre or with Nexus upon his return.  Or will he end up like Darren Young and Michael Tarver lost in the shuffle?

I'm also curious to know what you think?  Am I too harsh?  Am I missing something here?  I'm sure my thoughts were similar back in 2002 when a fresh faced John Cena was on the scene and look where that took us...