Outside of Barrett, they are all basically jobbers. Was watching some NWO footage last night, now that's a fucking takeover. The nexus is weak as shit.
I don't think nWo should ever be a comparison point for Nexus. That was a bunch of established stars making a shocking turn. Nexus is a bunch of new guys, nobodies coming in to take over. Where I think Nexus is struggling is that Barrett and Otunga are the only ones with mic skills. Otunga is terrible in the ring, which is holding him back. Sheffield was credible in a Batista beast mode character, but he broke his ankle. Gabriel and Slater are good in the ring, but lack a personality. I think Tarver was finding his stride with the mic skills and works in this context, but he was also injured. Harris can add something on both sides, while McGillicutty is pretty decent in the ring. Call me crazy, but I think that Percy Watson is someone who could add to the group if he can move the fun loving character into more of a crazy zone, a Jekyll and Hyde thing perhaps. I think you're starting to see some of the limitations with the group as they have potential to go stale quickly. Barrett can carry them and there are some interesting stories that are starting to come out. If a Cena story is done right, where he makes a heel turn and ends up taking over Nexus, could extend the story and the careers of the others. I'm also intrigued by Otunga's threat to expose the real reason why Nexus attacked Undertaker at Bragging Rights.
I think the Nexus has somewhat overstayed its welcome, however, with the Cena twist, it's certainly become better. I think Cena will be out of it after Survivor Series as it is though, given what happened on last nights Raw. I think the one thing it's done, more than anything, is established Barrett as a legit superstar. The man has ring skills and is damn good on the mic too. I'd also argue to say that he's the best villain in WWE right now, far surpassing Kane, who comes in second. I think Harris and McGillicutty add some much needed talent to the Nexus, as far as ring skills go. Both of them are really, really good in the ring, and I'm glad to see both of them have made their way in to WWE after they were impressive in NXT. As far as the rest of Nexus, I think the only other one with talent in it is Gabriel. He's great in the ring, almost reminds me of a mix of Jeff Hardy and CM Punk with his high flying style mixed with some good martial arts. I don't see much talent in in Slater, personally. I thought he was one of the worst ring performers in NXT and he's awful on the mic (though a good chunk of that is his god awful southern accent). Sheffield, I thought was turning the corner before he got hurt and could turn in to a JBL type of guy, but I still wasn't sold on him too much, I wanted to see him grow more in the ring. And Tarver...he's garbage all around and the only thing saving Otunga is his mic skills.
Oh, and speaking of Otunga, I think he could be exiting Nexus soon enough, maybe even Survivor Series. He's started to go against Barrett here and there, and remember, he immediately came to Cena when he was forced in to Nexus, saying if he needed someone to talk that he could come to him. I almost feel as if Otunga could screw over Barrett at Survivor Series. The only issue with that is the fact that if Barrett loses, Cena is supposedly done, and I can't imagine the WWE forcing the face of their company out for any period of time. As for the threat, I'd be curious as to what they come up with regarding the Nexus involvement in the Buried Alive match. That match was actually supposed to be booked as Taker winning it, but he's apparently got a nagging injury that's going to require surgery, so they had to find a way to allow Kane to retain the title, but not make Undertaker look weak, which they did succeed, because Undertaker dominated that match until the Nexus involvement.
When you don't want to write for four, six, eight people, just throw them haphazardly into a stable and then have all the cliched stable stuff happen like clockwork.
I think it started well, they just have run into some problems with some bad luck. Sheffield and Tarver's injuries kind of run the group down a bit. They aren't as imposing as they were and they look a little silly now in their muggings without them.
One thing that McMahon has always done in the past and done well is develop and push young talent into super-stardom. That may have been what he had in mind with Nexus. Trouble is, I dont see a potential super star in that group. Do you? I see some mid carders and maybe a star or two, but no Edge, Orton, Shemus, Cena, etc; I am tired of the Nexus angle. Maybe it will stop soon like the Spirit Squad.
I think Barrett is definitely superstar potential. He's got the mic skills and the ring talent to be one of the best wrestlers is WWE. Hell, he's already arguably the best villain the WWE has.
