The Nexus/YMMV

They were all informed from jump street that polling from the WWE Superstar pros and the fans would be deciding these eliminations, yet on May 11th, 2010, Bryan and Tarver have to hear Matt Striker be the man to inform them to their faces that WWE management turned their statements around as "not believing in yourself" in order to eliminate them. This was probably exhibit A of the crap the eight NXT "rookies" had been put through that season that they felt was disrespectful. If Nexus (in character) really was in the works during the competition, it's a wonder they showed enough restraint to let said competition decide their leader instead of destroying Striker right then and there.
 * Author's Saving Throw: In NXT, Otunga pushed a lot, and the amount of exposure he got to the amount of skill he has made many people accuse him of being a Creator's Pet, in Nexus he's hated by all of his fellow Nexus members for his arrogance and petty scheming, the accusations have stopped.
 * Badass Decay: The end of the Summerslam match can be seen as this. Also, Raw the next night featured all of Nexus in individual matches against Team WWE members. Only Barrett and Sheffield (and by extension, Otunga) got clean wins; all the other victories were won on pure luck. This made Nexus look incredibly inept.
 * Even with the above, the Nexus were a legitimate threat to WWE, beating down the top Superstars and even getting John Cena fired for a while. New Nexus was simply just CM Punk using them as poor muscle to beat down Randy Orton, and he was punting members out practically every week. The decay's especially apparent when you take into consideration the fact that The Corre at the time is having a legitimate feud with The Big Show, as well as securing the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships, with every member looking strong in comparison.
 * It got so bad that at one point, Punk was the only member of the New Nexus left. Seriously, what could be worse?
 * Fast forward to the aftermath of Money in the Bank with CM Punk leaving the promotion with the WWE title, the only members of the New Nexus were David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty, with Mason Ryan on the injured reserve.
 * And once Otunga and McGillicutty got a new Titantron to go with new music (which Otunga still uses on his own), the New Nexus would be completely gone.
 * Done and done.
 * Let's put it this way - In less than two months, Randy Orton did more damage to the New Nexus than John Cena managed to do to the Nexus in six months.
 * After the Orton feud they seemed to be rebuilding themselves into a legitimate threat. Mason Ryan got the better of Big Show and Kane in the same night. And as of 5/23/2011 Otunga and McGillicutty have won the tag titles from Show and Kane.
 * Then Mason Ryan got injured, CM Punk changed the picture in WWE, and by the time Otunga and McG lost the tag titles, there was no more Nexus.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: Justin Gabriel.
 * Ear Worm: The Nexus/New Nexus theme, "We Are One" by 12 Stones
 * The Corre theme, "End of Days" by 9 Electric, Nathan Hunt, Emphatic and many more to come.
 * Finally stopped at Matt McCloskey. Wade Barrett still used this version singles-wise for months, though he hated it and was ecstatic when he got a new English pub rock style theme at Royal Rumble 2012 (most fans, though, were the exact opposite).
 * Ensemble Darkhorse:
 * Gabriel is beloved by the smarks for his skill and the casual fans for his upbeat persona.
 * A recent poll on WWE.com placed Skip in the top five of their "11 to watch in 2011" list, despite the fact that Skip's been out of action for over half a year. Whether this is Foreshadowing or the 'E's failed attempt to push a long-forgotten character, only time will tell.
 * Considering Sheffield hasn't actually returned from injury yet and it's December then it counts as neither.
 * WWE apparently recently trademarked "Ryback," the name of his gimmick on the indy circuit. He's also wrestled dark matches in both is Ryback and Sheffield characters. Since he's clearly very popular with the people upstairs, it might have just took a little longer than anticipated.
 * Fan Nickname/Memetic Mutation: Nexus member Darren Young's facial features bear such a strong resemblance to John Cena's that fans took to calling him the Black John Cena; this became an Ascended Meme when it was actually acknowledged on-air.
 * And Cena got a Crowning Moment of Funny out of it. Darren mentioned it in passing, but Cena cracked everyone up when he said that Darren Young proved his worst fear: That his mom DID have an illicit affair with Buckwheat.
 * Moments after the initial attack, fans were referring to the rookies as the NxtWo.
 * Cena, at one point, when seeing all seven members of Nexus lined up on the entrance ramp shoulder-to-shoulder, referred to Nexus as "NNNNNNN".
 * In the few hours since Cena joined the group, people were already referring it as "CeNexus."
 * Heath Slater is constantly compared to the Wendy's girl.
 * Within hours of CM Punk joining the group, people began referring to the group as NexSES.
 * People quickly began referring to the Corre as the Nexus Wolfpac.
 * Fridge Brilliance: From Michael Tarver wearing an "nXt" shirt in the vein of the New World Order shirts, to almost every eliminated Rookie saying that their elimination was not the last the WWE Universe had seen of them, the foreshadowing of the NXT Riot/The Nexus was very subtle - but not many fans even considered a post-NXT group like The Nexus was in the cards.
 * If you rewatch the Viewer's Choice RAW in which the NXT Riot took place, if you look closely in the crowd, you can see a group of fans wearing Michael Tarver's "RUN NXT" shirt. This shirt was never for sale at any point in time, so it's likely that they may have been planted to provide a bit of subtle foreshadowing.
 * In what felt like a Big Lipped Alligator Moment for weeks after it happened, Kane on an episode of SmackDown randomly decided he wanted to fight all of the NXT rookies at once. Cue him taking them down one by one until they rallied together to attack as a unit and took him out with the utmost ease - that was basically showing the formation of the group right onscreen without making it remotely obvious it'd happened. Ironically, the leaders of the union were Otunga and Bryan, as Barrett had been the first man eliminated.
 * The group's name, Nexus, means "A form of connection; a connected group; the center of something". It also serves as subtle Foreshadowing towards Wade Barrett and CM Punk making the group revolve around themselves.
 * Barrett became the leader essentially through winning NXT season 1. He and David Otunga were the last two contestants on NXT season 1, and Barrett's last shining moment before winning the competition was an utter verbal burial of Otunga's wrestling ability and essential value as a wrestler. In other words; Barrett beat out Otunga for leadership of the group by exposing his flaws and humiliating him. No wonder Otunga kept trying to take power from Barrett yet never acted this way towards Punk.
 * The Nexus signature color is yellow, which no one will debate probably was due to the fact that it was also the signature color of the show they broke away from - NXT. The Corre's signature color is red, which is the signature color of the show that they broke away from as well.
 * Most people complain that Corre is spelt with two R's... But it's short for Correlation, "A reciprocal, parallel or complementary relationship between two or more comparable objects"... Which actually describes the group fairly accurately.
 * At least, until Barrett saw that he was still being the main speaker and strategist with this group and decided that meant he was still the boss.
 * Ho Yay: We're getting there between Cena and Wade Barrett, mostly since Barrett seems to be getting a sadistic thrill out of bossing Cena around. Barrett at one point ordered Cena to clean the dressing room, and that when he was done with that "you can scrub my back".
 * Gabriel and Slater have always been quite friendly with each other beginning NXT season 1 and continuing into the Corre. The two do like ruffling each other's hair and ultimately walked out of both the Nexus and the Corre together after being ordered by Punk to beat each other with kendo sticks and repeatedly abandoned by Barrett respectively.
 * And any time they've interacted since splitting up looks like a bantering lovers' spat. Well, at least as much as AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels do, and that's listed under Ho Yay.
 * Magnificent Bastard: CM Punk
 * Early on, Barrett's huge charisma, intelligence, and skill at implementing his plans put him on the road to being one. Various uses of The Nexus and obtaining Cena under his control cemented him as this.
 * Memetic Mutation: *Cena sad face*, in response to Barrett ordering Cena around.
 * The group that should eventually rise up and take down The Nexus? "Againstus".
 * The Corre's entrance music keeps changing slightly every show. We are currently on version 1,153,439.
 * Narm Charm: Many fans compare Skip Sheffield to Batista, due to some of the "serious" faces he makes.
 * Mason Ryan may have stolen that aspect from him.
 * Never Live It Down: McGillicutty's promo from the season finale of NXT season 2. Thanks to that promo he'll forever be associated with redundancy.
 * Nightmare Fuel: Michael Tarver's out-of-nowhere appearance just before the NXT Riot; video of Tarver at a house show during another Nexus attack later that week - where he stared down the fan taping the show - was quite possibly even worse.
 * Previously-happy-go-lucky Justin Gabriel's thousand-yard-stare before nailing Cena (and, later, Vince McMahon) with the 450 Splash.
 * Nightmare Retardant: The Nexus is pretty intimidating, but then you look at Darren Young's giant ass hair and Justin Gabriel's Bishounen look with his floopy appearance. He looks like a villainous Ricky Martin. Not to mention Heath Slater, who despite having multiple wins over Chris Jericho, looks and still is something of a goofball.
 * Older Than You Think: Justin Gabriel has been wrestling for longer than John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista.
 * Shocking Swerve:
 * CM Punk's reveal as the new leader of Nexus.
 * Because of the World Heavyweight Championship now being vacant (The current champion was forced to retire), a 20-man battle royal was ordered on the 4/15/11 Smackdown to determine the other #1 Contender, who would face Alberto Del Rio for the championship at Extreme Rules. The last several weeks had seen cracks develop in the Corre's loyalty to each other, and with all 4 members in the match, it wasn't inconceivable to think that loyalty would be tested. However, it was Gabriel of all people, who had been Wade Barrett's dragon and arguably most loyal ally since The Nexus days, moments after working with him to eliminate another competitor, dumps an unsuspecting Barrett out of the ring. YMMV on whether this trope is in effect for the audience, but Wade's facial expression and virtual frothing at the mouth after realizing who eliminated him certainly indicate that he didn't see it coming.
 * Straw Man Has a Point: Despite being portrayed as villains, the rookies do have legitimate complaints against WWE management.
 * Unintentionally Sympathetic: Have a look at the first elimination week. The previous week, Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver had both said that they themselves should be eliminated - Bryan because he hadn't won a match on NXT yet and it only stands to reason that if a guy can't win any part of a competition he shouldn't be voted to win the whole thing, and Tarver: because if he's gone, "then every last one of these walking dead bodies are safe."
 * Tear Jerker: Many children in the crowd were driven to tears when John Cena was forced to join the Nexus.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: John Cena was fired? Would of never been able to tell with him wearing his wrestling attire still, cutting promos all over, jumping Nexus members just like he was before the "fired" part happened, security was not getting in the way at all, General Manager not punishing him for his actions, AND his THEME MUSIC PLAYING. Even worst is fact that Nexus, who has stood united up until now, instantly caved in from threat after just 1 week of attacks after all they've been through and forced Barrett to give Cena back his job. So, John Cena was fired all for....2 weeks. Emotional farewell promo that gave no break or anything at all.
 * After Wade Barrett was kicked out of Nexus, rather than attempt to take revenge against CM Punk and the rest of the stable, he appeared on Smackdown the same week attacking the Big Show for no apparent reason, and word is that he'll be on Smackdown for the forseeable future.
 * Except now Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater have also jumped ship to Smackdown and realigned themselves with Barrett, who also added Ezekiel Jackson, who introduced himself as a member of Wade's new stable by scoop-slamming The Big Show.
 * What Could Have Been: Everyone was left wondering how the Nexus angle would have progressed with Bryan's presence.
 * On the plus side, it allowed Bryan to return to the indies on a temporary tour of duty before being hired back by WWE, giving many of the promotions he was working for an extra promotional boost (and giving him a chance to tell fans to give TV-PG a chance, as well as asking fans to support the indies).
 * Memetic Mutation: When word came that Danielson was released because of the tie choking, many jokes were made about Daniel Bryan and ties. It quickly spread to the indie scene, where guys would win matches by choking their opponents with ties. When Danielson returned to CHIKARA for the first time since his firing, instead of the usual streamers, Bryan was greeted with a rain of neckties from the fans. At Ring of Honor's Death by Dishonor VIII, where El Generico choked out Kevin Steen with a tie during a brawl, with announcer Dave Prazak exclaiming "He should be fired!" Even TNA got in on the fun with their own Take That on the situation. During a Street Fight involving Taylor Wilde and Sarita on Impact, Sarita grabbed a fan's purse and choked out Taylor with the straps. Taz, on commentary, remarked that people had been fired for that sort of thing.
 * The Raw after Summerslam, the seven members of Nexus faced the seven six members of Team WWE (Randy Orton stepped in for Bret Hart), with them all agreeing that whoever lost in their match was to be kicked out of The Nexus. Of the group, only Darren Young lost; the remaining members promptly beat him down. Fast forward a few weeks, Barrett is facing Orton in the main event of Raw and Darren Young comes out and distracts Barrett, saying "You think you can just kick me out of Nexus?", completely ignoring that he (And the rest of the group) had agreed to the terms at the start of the night. Not only that, but Young actually volunteered to face Cena, knowing that he was the biggest threat on Team WWE.
 * Following Survivor Series 2010, John Cena was no longer a member of the WWE roster, yet since the November 29 2010 edition of Raw, he has attacked the members of Nexus & interfered in matches, pointing out that security won't help Nexus after the NXT Riot. Fair enough, but since he's not a WWE superstar anymore, that means that Nexus could easily have Cena arrested for assault, trespassing & criminal damage, yet no-one in the group seems to have thought of this.
 * What Measure Is a Non-Badass?: Slater does not seem to stand out compared to the other members of Nexus in either talent or mic skills. However, he has silently become the Nexus workhorse and most fans have not noticed.
 * When Wade Barrett was in England taking care of his Visa issues, it was Slater that led the attack on the WWE Legends.
 * At the Team WWE vs. Team Nexus match at SummerSlam, he pinned both Chris Jericho and Edge. A few weeks later during a 5 on 5 elimination tag match, he pinned the WWE Champion Sheamus. He also holds a one-on-one victory against Jericho back on NXT, so he has pinned more World champions than any member of The Nexus/Corre.
 * As of February 21, 2011, Slater has added John Cena to his list of defeated World champions, earning he and Gabriel their third tag title reign.
 * A non-kayfabe example: In the aforementioned Team WWE vs. Team Nexus match at SummerSlam, he was the one that worked with Bret Hart. Considering Bret's health issues, they trusted Slater with the biggest burden of the match (as opposed to Barrett or Gabriel) and he performed very well.
 * The Woobie: John Cena after being forced to join Nexus.
 * X-Pac Heat: Many think Otunga has been given way more spotlight then his lack of talent deserves.