Former WWE Star Wants To See The Nexus Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
One of the original Nexus’ founding members believes that the group was influential enough to deserve entry into WWE’s Hall of Fame.
Darren Young – who now competes for New Japan Strong under his real name, Fred Rosser – was one of the original eight members of the Nexus. The other seven were Wade Barrett, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, Justin Gabriel, Skip Sheffield, and Daniel Bryan. But Bryan’s involvement with the group ended after one night following the Justin Roberts tie-choking incident and for spitting on John Cena.
The Nexus rose to prominence following their ‘warpath’ on the June 7th, 2010 episode of WWE RAW. All eight of them – Young/Rosser, Bryan, and the rest – were members of NXT Season 1 back when it was more of a reality TV-style elimination show than an actual developmental territory. That June episode of RAW, the Nexus destroyed the ring area and attacked everyone in sight, including John Cena, Jerry Lawler, CM Punk, and many others. Many fans have considered this debut moment as the Nexus’ peak because, creatively, it was all downhill from there.
The group went on a tear for two months until they had a big 7-on-7 elimination tag match against top WWE stars, including a returning Bret Hart. But what should’ve been the perfect moment to have the rookies win to establish themselves as new stars saw a widely-panned finish instead as John Cena survived more than he should have and overcame the last two remaining Nexus members by himself. That finish left a foul taste in fans’ mouths and by the end of 2010, the Nexus was an afterthought with its different members all being shifted around into new gimmicks and storylines.
And yet, Rosser believes that this angle and the storyline that followed was enough for the group to enter the WWE Hall of Fame. On a recent episode of the Insider’s Edge Podcast, Rosser said that he makes this argument regularly on social media and believes that he, like his former teammate Titus O’Neil, deserves to “wear a [HOF] ring.”
However, in this particular interview, Rosser wasn’t clear as to exactly why he and the Nexus deserve Hall of Fame spots.
“I always say on social media or even in interviews like this that The Nexus need to be inducted into the [WWE] Hall of Fame. Not as old men, but as veterans, as polished guys that still look good and still do what they do.”
h/t WrestlingInc for the transcription