The name Daniel Bryan was a footnote, relegated to Internet message boards and obscure wrestling trivia. After all, the season one WWE NXT Rookie had been betrayed and attacked by his fellow Rookies – The Nexus – and remained forgotten in the wake of the group’s carnage. But now, Bryan is a man no one in WWE will ever forget. For it was he who joined Team WWE as their seventh man, helped dismantle The Nexus in an unforgettable 7-on-7 Elimination Tag Team Match and likely helped save Monday Night Raw.

As The Nexus have wreaked their particularly insidious strain of chaos, intimidation and ruthlessness on Raw, the group, including Wade Barrett, Skip Sheffield, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Darren Young, Heath Slater  and Michael Tarver, appeared to be rushing toward total domination. The only roadblock? Team WWE and the determination of John Cena, Bret Hart, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison and R-Truth. While the WWE squad faltered and fragmented in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam, they nonetheless united around a single purpose: Break The Nexus.

Going into the night, Team WWE’s seventh man remained a mystery. The Miz was convinced it was he who would be tapped, which made him all the more apoplectic when Cena revealed that the seventh man was actually Bryan.

As the audience in the STAPLES Center roared their approval, Bryan took his place alongside his new teammates. Despite a shrewd strategy employed by The Nexus, the group simply could not overcome their veteran counterparts and the momentum accompanying Bryan. With looks of shock and dismay, the members of The Nexus were humbled as, one-by-one, they found themselves eliminated from the bout until finally all seven were forced to admit defeat.

The victory proved vital for Team WWE, demonstrating that the myriad Superstars are capable of setting aside their differences in the pursuit of defending what they hold dear. And despite the bruising loss, it’s also safe to assume that the WWE Universe hasn’t heard the last of The Nexus – or one Daniel Bryan.

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Not even the impassable, entwined metal of a steel cage could keep The Nexus from interfering. The sadistic structure was meant to prevent the seven deadly sinners from involving themselves in the Steel Cage Match pitting WWE Champion Sheamus against John Cena, but the rebel group still foiled Cena’s destiny as WWE Champ and allowed The Celtic Warrior to retain.

Toward the conclusion of the bout, The Nexus began to surround the ring. But before they could enter the cage, a quick thinking referee stole the bolt cutters they brought while another ref hurled the key to the cage into the audience. While this development denied Nexus entry into the structure, it also narrowed the options of the two combatants.

In the heat of battle within the cage, the match referee was knocked out cold. The absence of a ref would prove critical to Cena, who forced his opponent to tap out. Sadly, the tap would not count since it was not officially recognized.

As a result, Cena ascended up the cage walls. The Nexus, however, eagerly awaited him on the outside of the sadistic structure. While tending to their preferred target, Cena, the band of bothers mostly took their eyes off the WWE Champion, who quickly began scaling the opposite side of the cage.

After climbing the metal behemoth, Cena began his descent and attempted to drop to the floor for the win. Unfortunately for him, The Nexus were there en masse to stop him, preventing his sneakers from reaching the floor. As Cena struggled to touch terra firma, The Celtic Warrior surpassed him, having scrambled down the steel entrapment on the other side and placed his boots squarely on the ground. There was no time to celebrate, however, since Nexus chased him off in the wake of his victory. While the Irishman beat a hasty retreat, his rival stuck around to punish several members of Nexus.

Despite Cena’s best efforts, The Nexus had once again thwarted his aspirations and deprived him of the WWE Championship. And once again, Sheamus was there to reap the rewards.

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UNIONDALE, N.Y. — They battered John Cena. They destroyed Raw General Manager Bret Hart. And, tonight, at Fatal 4-Way, the NXT season one Rookies invaded the Nassau Coliseum to attack the WWE Championship Fatal 4-Way Match participants — primarily targeting The Champ — allowing The Celtic Warrior to steal the victory and win Cena’s title.

Tonight’s siege on the WWE Championship Match between Cena, Sheamus, Randy Orton and Edge was yet another shocking act perpetrated by this dangerous young group. Led by the recently fired Wade Barrett, the marauding band of rebels broke into the arena, stomped their way past Raw Superstars like R-Truth and The Hart Dynasty and then rushed the ring, brutalizing any unfortunate soul that got in their way.

With the four competitors battered and bruised from their agonizing encounter, there was little they could do to stop the seven, aggressive invaders. Cena, in particular, felt the brunt of the hostile team’s unbridled anger as they again laid waste to him with a series of devastating maneuvers.

To make things worse for The Champ, Sheamus took advantage of the fact that there are no disqualifications in Fatal 4-Way Matches and covered a beaten Cena to claim his second WWE Championship. The imposing Irishman had little time to celebrate, however, as the NXT season one Rookies quickly set their sights on him, resulting in a wild chase to the locker room area.

On last Monday’s Raw, Cena’s anger toward this splinter group was already through the roof. After the events of tonight, the WWE Universe can guarantee that the former WWE Champion’s rage will be nothing short of epic. Tune in to see the fireworks.

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The best of 26
By: Michael Burdick
March 28, 2010

PHOENIX – On The Grandest Stage of Them All, the captivated WWE Universe was driven to their feet before the sound of “America the Beautiful” filled the University of Phoenix Stadium. In an action-packed, 26-Man WrestleMania Battle Royal, Yoshi Tatsu stunned the capacity crowd, emerging from the fire as the last Superstar standing.

It was a battle of pure frenzy and free-for-all mayhem, where the only way to triumph was to stay alive as 25 other Superstars were being hurled over the top rope and onto the stadium floor. And amidst the intense match that fit like a glove leading into the towering grandeur of The Show of Shows, Tatsu proved his WrestleMania mettle.

The charismatic Superstar scored a victory of note, outlasting a powerful plethora of combatants to capture WrestleMania glory. In the final moments of the brutal match, Tatsu sent Zack Ryder over the top rope. Although Ryder was able to hold on, the quick-thinking Tatsu delivered a lightning-fast round kick, sending the final obstacle in the way of his amazing victory crashing to the ground.

From the moment the electrifying Tatsu entered the ring, the energized crowd seemed eager to be in his corner. And with such a huge WrestleMania triumph under his belt, every fan in attendance is now wondering how the young grappler will use his momentum to take Monday Night Raw by storm.

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