Ex-WWE Star Reveals Wrestlers Were Jealous During Infamous John Cena Storyline
A big storyline in John Cena’s WWE career led to a lot of wrestlers being jealous, according to a former superstar.
In June 2010, the eight-man Nexus group, consisting of NXT winner Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Skip Sheffield (aka Ryback in the future), David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, and Darren Young, attacked John Cena and CM Punk in the ring to end WWE Monday Night Raw. They also beat up people around the ring.
As the weeks and months progressed, the focus was on John Cena fighting against this rogue group of “rookies” who were making names for themselves by attacking Cena, who was WWE’s biggest name at the time.
At SummerSlam 2010, there was a 7-on-7 tag team main event where John Cena famously changed the finish of the Nexus winning, and instead, Cena made the comeback to win. Vince McMahon approved Cena’s idea, and that’s what happened on television.
David Otunga is among the names associated with The Nexus who claim John Cena buried The Nexus because of what happened at SummerSlam 2010.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, David Otunga spoke about Daniel Bryan choking announcer Justin Roberts with his tie and if that was the reason why he was released.
“Everybody heard it was because he choked Justin Roberts with a tie. But I was there, and I saw something else. Daniel Bryan spit in John Cena’s face. If he spit in my face, I would’ve beaten his ass right there.”
For what it’s worth, Danielson has said that it was because of the tie and the spit. WWE rehired Bryan for SummerSlam about two months later, so it was not a release that lasted very long.
The Nexus Thought Vince McMahon Was Going To Fire Them On The Night They Attacked John Cena
When The Nexus attacked John Cena in the ring on Raw on June 7, 2010, David Otunga admitted they didn’t know why they were really being sent to Vince McMahon’s office.
“We thought we were being fired. We’d never been called into Vince’s office before. It really did feel like going to the principal’s office.”
Otunga went on to share what Vince told them.
“This has to look vicious. If it doesn’t, you’re fired.”
As for the other wrestlers, Otunga claimed that veteran WWE superstars were jealous of The Nexus because they were put in a position to feud with John Cena, and essentially move ahead of others on the roster.
“The boys thought we went rogue. Some of the vets were about to run out there and try to fight us for real. Agents had to hold them back. And the jealousy started almost instantly. We were rookies suddenly leapfrogging mid-carders and landing in the main event.”
During the attack, Otunga played a key role because he was told to punch referee Chad Patton, but Otunga admits he didn’t properly learn how to throw a working wrestling punch.
“Vince said it had to look real, so I was ready to knock out the referee if I had to. Luckily, the shot landed perfectly. As far as I know, Chad [Patton] still has all his teeth.”
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