The Nexus (professional wrestling)

The Nexus, later known as The New Nexus, was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE that competed on the Raw brand from June 7, 2010, to August 22, 2011, originally consisting of eight rookies who had performed on the first season of WWE NXT. The original group leader was Wade Barrett, while CM Punk was its second and final leader. The rest of the group's roster shifted several times throughout its 14-month existence, with David Otunga the only member to serve in the group from beginning to end.

The NXT graduates set out to antagonize the Raw roster, initially focusing on then WWE Champion John Cena, who forcibly became a member of The Nexus after losing a match at Hell in a Cell thanks to outside interference. Cena was eventually removed from the group at Survivor Series after Barrett lost his WWE Championship match to Randy Orton. Barrett was replaced as leader by Punk, at which point the stable was renamed The New Nexus in an attempt to distance itself from its past, becoming a tight-knit group dedicated to one another through faith. Members of the group won the WWE Tag Team Championship three times, while Punk won the WWE Championship in his final match with the stable at Money in the Bank.