Has anything been better then Nexus?

[Stormtrooper]

The current storyline involving Nexus has been widely considered a huge hit (albeit the storyline is in its infancy). I personally love this storyline, and think it is the best thing going in Professional Wrestling/Sports Entertainment. I would even go 8 steps further, and say that the Nexus storyline is the greatest RAW storyline since the Brand Extension in 2002. I tune in to RAW each and every week (and have for many, many years), and I cannot recall ever waiting this impatiently for a single storyline to further develop (I’m already psyched to see what happens next week, and it’s Tuesday).

Some of the major RAW storylines since the Brand Extension (at least the ones I can think of):

• Evolution (2003-2005): Evolution really was just a stable, but since its purpose (storyline wise) was just to keep Triple H (who fans claim was holding people back at his time) as World Champion, it always led to a fan backlash against Triple H. Since the group was successful in its purpose, it led to a lot of Triple H centric TV that wasn’t very popular amongst the fans.
• D-Generation X’s first return (2006): They started in a feud with the McMahon’s, but then shifted to a feud with Rated RKO. It was fun to see DX again, but it never had the “what is going to happen this week” feel to it.
• Ric Flair’s final return/retirement storyline (2008): This storyline was terrible, because it always was “how is Ric Flair not going to win this week, since he is facing Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV.”
• RAW Guest Hosts (2009-present): I personally love the Guest Host storyline, especially since they no longer have booking power. However, each week is hit or miss, in that some hosts I have no interest in, where others I can’t wait to see.

So my question is, can anyone else think of a storyline post-Brand Extension that has been anywhere near as enthralling as Nexus? Hell, can anyone think of a storyline in RAW history that has been better then Nexus?

 

[Digging4Plunder]

Well, I don't think this is the "greatest Raw angle in history", but it certainly saved the WWE from fading into obscurity. Lazily booked shows with all too clear endings have become a staple in the WWE for a few years now. The only notable creative spikes I can think of off the top of my head in the past few years is Michaels/Taker build-up and Orton/HHH pre-Wrestlemania 25 build-up (well, mainly Orton's DDT and kiss to Stephanie). There's been a few hot shot angles between then, but overall the product's been on a decline. Suddenly, although not all matches delivered, Wrestlemania 26 brought upon great build-up and we've been in high gear ever since.

To directly answer the question, Nexus is an incredible storyline that's really taking Raw to another level. The best part about it, to me, has been the no commentary factor. With no one screaming through my television to "STOP THIS!" or "GET SOME HELP OUT HERE", it makes an angle take a punch to the gut and lose some steam, at least to me. It's been the most elaborate and well thought out storyline we've seen in a long time.

 

[vanderhevel]

i thought this angle was gonna lose some steam the night they all came out and apologized, but then they housed vince and it was all good. this is a pretty good angle, but it makes me wonder how great it would be if bd didnt get fired. or if him getting fired is a work and hes gonna come back and make it even better either as someone in nxt or someone opposed to them.

 

[amodernphoenix]

You guys are a bunch of dipshits. First, this angle WAS good in the beginning and it has taken a huge swandive with the unexplained and innapropriate apologies. Secondly, OF COURSE the BD firing was a work. You have the WWE Champion (at the time) signing a petition to bring him back and one of the biggest WWE shills of all time, Jim Ross, talking about him every week to keep up the interest.

Use your brain and follow the typical WWE predictive booking- BD is the new General Manager.

 

[Muttley]

Of course it's better than the watered down DX returns and Raw guest hosts. Nexus is kind of a breath of fresh air for WWE's stale product as of late (and when I say as of late, I mean years) For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm tuning into Raw not based off of habit, but to see what is going to happen next which is what creative should try to aim for week after week.

I will say though, that if Nexus just continues to attack people week after week, then it's going to get old pretty fast. I can only watch them pummel the victim for so long before Skip clotheslines them and then Justin Gabriel does a 450 splash. I hope that now that they are "under contract" that they will start to get a little more depth as characters, rather than just "wait a minute, NXT is coming to the ring...uh ohhh"

 

[Silent~Screamer]

The Nexus angle is awful. Who in the blue hell honestly enjoys this shit? Every fucking week they attack some old man with no career left. And Skip Sheffield? He attacked the sound guy? How is this one of the best story lines in years? If anything, the Undertaker/Edge/Guerrero feud back a few years ago was miles ahead of this shit. They killed the team with the whole apology thing, the storyline is going absolutely nowhere, and is anything but exciting. A few years ago Trips and Cena took on the whole roster in one night, so why can't Cena beat seven rookies all of a sudden?

As for RAW, it hasn't gotten any better, the booking is still half-assed and the storylines are just as awful as they have been, so how the hell are seven nobodies going to fix this? Answer: they aren't.

 

[Tougie]

Nothing has been better on Raw than the Evolution Stable. From its dominance to Orton being kicked out of the group which is one of the most shocking moments in WWE History. Which lead to Orton fueding with HHH and having his cage match with Flair at Taboo Tuesday.

This obviously continued with Batista's turn which regardless of what anyone thinks of his ability that storyline has destroyed everything and anything WWE has done since the Flair retirement angle. The 3 straight main events was one of the best rivalries in History.

And it still continued after the Hell in a Cell when HHH came back and turned on Flair. So 3-4 good if not great fueds came out of this stable in the 2-3 years it was around. Nothing has topped it and honestly The Nexus wont either because the black cloud known as Danielson's firing will always hang over the angle.

Oh, and the guest host angle....I'd rather watch a kennel from hell with Gillberg and Mopy

 

[vampirek]

The Nexus angle is awful. Who in the blue hell honestly enjoys this shit? Every fucking week they attack some old man with no career left. And Skip Sheffield? He attacked the sound guy? How is this one of the best story lines in years? If anything, the Undertaker/Edge/Guerrero feud back a few years ago was miles ahead of this shit. They killed the team with the whole apology thing, the storyline is going absolutely nowhere, and is anything but exciting. A few years ago Trips and Cena took on the whole roster in one night, so why can't Cena beat seven rookies all of a sudden?

As for RAW, it hasn't gotten any better, the booking is still half-assed and the storylines are just as awful as they have been, so how the hell are seven nobodies going to fix this? Answer: they aren't.

Exactly how I feel, plus the fact Wade Barrett is stuck in England for the foreseeable future the whole angle doesn't have much weight to it.
I mean at first they came out because they felt they have been treated badly during NxT. Despite the fact Wade won and earnt a title match. The week after they wanted contracts... Wade already one. As a result fired and kicked out. Danielson left the company. The seven return wanting contracts, they know get their contracts and the guy who originally had a contract is stuck in the UK.
So we are know stuck with 6 wrestlers, none of them won NxT already got what they want.... so what the heck are they fighting for now? Why was Wade Barrett even involved in this, it makes no sense.

 

[Jaims]

You guys are a bunch of dipshits. First, this angle WAS good in the beginning and it has taken a huge swandive with the unexplained and innapropriate apologies. Secondly, OF COURSE the BD firing was a work. You have the WWE Champion (at the time) signing a petition to bring him back and one of the biggest WWE shills of all time, Jim Ross, talking about him every week to keep up the interest.

Use your brain and follow the typical WWE predictive booking- BD is the new General Manager.

It was NOT a work. He was fired. Cena is signing a petition because he is a two-faced guy, trying to gain respect from the fans who are angered about the BD firing, when supposedly he contributed to the firing by complaining about BD spitting on him. I definitely think BD is coming back, but he will have to be officially hired to do so. He already took a booking with Chikara, which means he is not a part of the WWE roster anymore. JR talks about it because he gets a crapload of questions about BD every day. It's time everyone faces the facts: BD was fired. But he is most likely going to come back. But he WAS FIRED. Not a work.

 

[X]

Man wrestling fans are so fucking fickle and extreme. It's either THE GREATEST STORYLINE EVAH or the WORST FUCKING ANGLE EVER!, there's never anything in-between for wrestling fans it seems.

First off, there are those of you who are freaking out and overreacting to an angle that while very good thus far, isn't anything remotely new or groundbreaking. The NXT angle has been done a thousand times before, it was called the NWO and they are STILL beating that dead, dead horse over in TNA trying to get any last bit of cash out of that dying name they can. The NXT invasion angle is quite literally just a slightly repackaged version of the original NWO invasion, nothing more, nothing less. That said, it's been done very well and has bee the best "invasion" kind of angle in a major promotion probably since the original NWO invasion of WCW in 1996. But please, stop freaking out over this. It's a cool angle, definitely, but it's not the best angle Raw has ever had or the best of the decade. Fuck I don't even think I'd say it's been the best angle of the year either as the build to the HBK retirement match was out of this world and sucked me far more into the product than this Nexus angle has.

Then, there are those that are shitting all over this because like I said, it's really nothing new at all, and is simply a WWE repackaged version of NWO. While they may have a point there, this has been executed far better than any NWO-like angle has in about 13 years and to say this is the worst angle in years or that it's total shit is just being absolutely ridiculous and overbearing, nothing surprising from the IWC really.

I'm right in the middle. I dig the angle, but I recognize it's really nothing groundbreaking, whatsoever. So to answer this threads question, yes, many things have been better than Nexus. Many, many things. The HBK-Taker angle this year was better in my eyes, and this Nexus angle has nothing on last summer's angle between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Now THAT angle was the best thing I've seen out of the WWE in many years, if we want to praise an angle, that should be the one.

 

[Stormtrooper]

First off, there are those of you who are freaking out and overreacting to an angle that while very good thus far, isn't anything remotely new or groundbreaking. The NXT angle has been done a thousand times before, it was called the NWO and they are STILL beating that dead, dead horse over in TNA trying to get any last bit of cash out of that dying name they can. The NXT invasion angle is quite literally just a slightly repackaged version of the original NWO invasion, nothing more, nothing less. That said, it's been done very well and has bee the best "invasion" kind of angle in a major promotion probably since the original NWO invasion of WCW in 1996. But please, stop freaking out over this. It's a cool angle, definitely, but it's not the best angle Raw has ever had or the best of the decade. Fuck I don't even think I'd say it's been the best angle of the year either as the build to the HBK retirement match was out of this world and sucked me far more into the product than this Nexus angle has.

You yourself said it doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be good. I know it isn't groundbreaking, but it's been done almost flawlessly from the start, and what they are doing is making me want to see what they do the foolowing week, something that the HBK/Taker feud didn't do. The HBK/Taker stuff was awesome, but none of the buildup had me anticipating the following RAW (excluding the match itself). I never once said to myself "I wonder what they are gonna do next week." It was always "man, I can't wait for this match, it's gonna kick ass, I can't wait for Mania."

So to answer this threads question, yes, many things have been better than Nexus. Many, many things. The HBK-Taker angle this year was better in my eyes, and this Nexus angle has nothing on last summer's angle between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Now THAT angle was the best thing I've seen out of the WWE in many years, if we want to praise an angle, that should be the one.

The Punk/Hardy feud was on Smackdown. The thread is about storylines on RAW since the brand split. That angle was awesome, I won't deny it. Maybe the Nexus stuff in the coming months will surpass it (and HBK/Taker), but right now, as I said, I cannot recall a better angle at drawing me to the TV set on a week-to-week basis.

 

[Kliq]

To each his own. It's great to hear praise for a WWE storyline for once, but it isn't something I care much for. Okay so a bunch of promising young stars are ganging up on the WWE locker room and its legends. When it first happened it was kind of exciting. A nice end to a Raw. That is where it stopped with me. The highlight of the angle was the initial attack. The question shouldn't be has there ever been anything better than this Nexus angle, it should be has there been a better ending to Raw in recent memory? The week to week angle isn't that appealing. It doesn't have me tuning in as much as many other storylines have. Good angle, great angle, but not the best angle.

 

[BernacK6]

I really wanted to debate this pretty hard, but the only storyline on Raw I can think of that is better than Nexus is pre-brand extension. The entire Stone Cold Steve Austin storyline is the greatest story in WWE history. Austin vs. McMahon is one career long storyline. I gave up on wrestling in 2003 as a result of brand extension, and since I dove headfirst back in at the beginning of 2008, this is the best story on Raw because I look forward to seeing them weekly and they have developed super strong heat. I actually care about what they're going to be up to.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Yes there have been some very good storylines over the years
We all loved the Taker-Shawn feud, DX's 2006 run was hilarious man, the Cena Rvd angle was great while it lasted but if you look at the last 12 months , ye this is probably the best because this shocked the world including the
all-knowing-predicting IWC smarks.

In my life I had never seen the ring get dismantled like that on live television ..EVER!!
it was shocking at first but now it is getting very repetitive, Bryan's gone, Barret's in the UK and there is noone else who can take the reigns honestly.

I would love it if this plays out to Summerslam where Barret gets his shot at Cena ( who will have reclaimed the gold by then , bank on it) and
BRYAN DANIELSON is revealed as the mastermind !!! and helps Barrett win the title!!

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

You yourself said it doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be good. I know it isn't groundbreaking, but it's been done almost flawlessly from the start, and what they are doing is making me want to see what they do the foolowing week, something that the HBK/Taker feud didn't do. The HBK/Taker stuff was awesome, but none of the buildup had me anticipating the following RAW (excluding the match itself). I never once said to myself "I wonder what they are gonna do next week." It was always "man, I can't wait for this match, it's gonna kick ass, I can't wait for Mania."

But you had to tune in to see what HBK was gonna do to actually make Taker face him. Taker refused.. remember! and this HBK bordering on the psychotic was very unpredictable. It was good TV with the exception of the last raw maybe which was kinda lame with HBK vs Kane. Should've been something super epic like a return of the Taker crucifix or the ring set on fire!

 

[mayankeagle]

Well, if you guys feel that this is the best Raw angle, it just tells you how boring Raw had become with the stories that Cena told. The NXT story is good, and that's because a lot of top Raw stars are gone - HBK has retired and HHH is out healing his injury. If DX were there, they would've kicked a** of NXT and in that case, NXT would never have gotten a chance to come up. The fact that NXT is having to fill up for absence of bigger stars just tells you how rotten the stories of the current "top" guys like Cena have become. While NXT is a good angle at the moment, if they overdo it, it would become boring. And as of now, it definitely doesn't rank anywhere in the list of top Raw angles like Austin/ McMahon, DX/ Rock, Taker/ Kane, etc.

 

[JenksIX]

When I first saw Nexus debut on RAW, it was bitter sweet for me. On the one hand, I was excited to finally see something new and entertaining on RAW. I have no emotional investment in Cena, Orton, Edge (meaning I don't root for any of them) ... all I have to look forward too is potential (meaning what guys like Ted DiBiase could be.)

But when I saw Nexus attack Cena/Punk (Punk being attacked was a very important part of the story for me, but now it's irrelevant) I was like "Holy shit ... it's a new era!"

Finally, a large stable was coming back too the WWE. And I really liked how NXT had two credible co-leaders in Barrett/Danielson ... a guy like Justin Gabriel who seems destined to be a great baby face, Sheffield who is pure muscle, Tarver who is a loose cannon, Young/Slater who play their parts well kind of as a "clean up crew".. and Otunga who rounds out the group with a familiar face and devious intensity who could help the group w/ mic work, kind of like an anchor to further their credibility.

The reason I said it was bitter sweet is because I have been rooting for TNA for a long time. I have been a fan of WWE for a long time but between WCW being bought and after all the WCW guys were misused, and my personal feelings about guys like Vince, HBK, HHH ... I have always wanted TNA to do well. I think as wrestling fans we deserve options. I just remember a few yrs ago turning on WWE and seeing JBL as this Million Dollar man ripoff and Champion and was like "WTF?" At the same time, TNA was entertaining me with their "adrenaline rush," a returning after 5 yrs Sting storyline ... Kevin Nash and the XDivision and paparazzi productions. I also remember Jarrett playing a good heal running a stable and a funny Eric Young.

But when NXT arrived, I felt TNA was going downhill. Now I see TNA is picking it back up and I'm excited to see what happens with both Tna and WWE raw. I also hope to see if the first NXT rookie eliminated joins Nexus.

The great thing about wrestling right now is that both shows are giving us cliffhanger finishes. If you didn't like Nexus beating up the old guys this past week ... obviously they can't do that next week, but you know they will get invovled some how.

In the meantime, when is the ECW faction gonna take over TNA? Who is going to fight them?

Anyway, I consider myself a mainstream fan because I don't regularly agree with the IWC ... this is the best storyline I've seen in wrestling in a long time because I see a lot of potential for it if written well. As a mainstream fan, I really could careless bout Evolution or Dx returns. Was there ne surprise to HBK vs Undertaker? Everyone knew what was going to happen in advance.

The last time HBK ever shocked me and got an emotion out of me was when he kicked Marty Jannetty in the face and threw him through a window. One of the best face to heel turns ever ... from then on I ALWAYS considered Michaels a heel and nothing he did shocked me lol.

My only hope was that Nexus would further young talent ... but I feel the only WWE guys that will benefit from this storyline are Cena, Orton and maybe Sheamus/Edge. I hope the story evolves more and Nexus brings on more members. I think it's stupid though how "close" the RAW lockerroom is atm. NWO took advantage b/c WCW could never work together. When did heels get so soft?

The more WWE kills this NXT angle, I just hope TNA takes note and sees that the same things holding WWE back, aren't a problem for TNA. An ECW invasion in TNA could be tremendous. Violence, cursing, all the shit you attitude era ppl love w/ some storyline and TNA could be on it's way.

TNA has fking Rhino, RVD, Dreamer, Team 3D, Raven, Tazz, Mick Foley, could hire Sabu/Heyman may be, tons of young X Division ... there not what they use to be in the ring probably, but theres nothing wrong with their mouths and attitudes.

But yeah, I like this NXT angle and hope it further develops and Nexus gets more members, but I want the WWE heels to be less pussyish. You don't become a John Cena butt buddy b/c their r 7 new guys (who now have contracts. so why the f is wwe lockerroom comng out after raw goes off the air a week a go? thats the type of bs i cant stand)

 

[Theo Mays]

The Nexus angle is certainly the hot commodity right now. Like X said it certainly isn't groundbreaking and it isn't anything great, but it is still a quality angle. It certainly isn't the best thing on Raw since the brand extension. There have been other angles that have been better (and more enjoyable to me) like the Taker/HBK, even the Edge/Matt Hardy stuff was better from my viewing standpoint. Their feud was based off real life and the hatred felt real and made for quality TV and the matches in their own right were pretty solid. The Nexus angle is still in its crawling stage and is still a young angle with all the potential to be a top angle. Right now it is a quality angle that could grow into something bigger, but it will have to take off in the near future.

 

[mister_b1LL]

The Nexus angle is really good no doubt, but when you put this angle up against any other angles of the past few years, I still think that there have been storylines a whole lot better than the Nexus. HBK/Jericho in both 2003 and 2008 were incredible, especially 2008. HBK getting thrown through the Jeritron, the shot on Michael's wife, and the awesome ladder match payoff at No Mercy, all these things made for an awesome angle that got a lot of publicity during it's time, but is a little bit overlooked nowadays. Shame since it didn't happen too long ago. I think HBK/Jericho was the one thing that saved 2008 from being the worst year of the decade in wrestling.

 

[THE_UNCARING1]

I realize that this isn't totally original but I always enjoy these big "what will they do next" group angles. The thing I think ppl should focus on is who's the real leader. Not Barrett, the real leader. Who's pulling the strings? The moment they attacked Vince I knew there has to be someone big behind this....another McMahon perhaps? And, who is the new GM? Are they affiliated w/ Nexus? Who knows. Frankly I'm not sure even the writers know as this story seems to keep getting wrenches thrown in the work. (Daniel Bryan, Bret Hart, Barrett losing his visa) I'm very interested in seeing where this goes because of one major reason....I have no idea where it's going. It's nice to be taken for a ride every once in awhile. It's why I love watching wresting in the first place.
Intrigue. Drama. Action. Excitement. This angle has it all. Next step....Nexus members in actual matches.

 

[jholcomb22]

Nexus could have been one of the best Raw storylines in a different era. The fact that they destroyed the entire arena on their first night was impressive, but they aren't able to go more extreme than that. No blood equals toned down violence.

When we were told for the 15th time by Cole that the Nexus was unable to "touch" a WWE superstar, I thought the ladders were going to be used on every superstar in the final match, or at least when Randy Orton climbed up hella slow at the end, they could have pushed the ladder over without touching him that could have led to an intense stare down between the money in the bank 8 and the Nexus 6 with nobody able to do anything because of the stipulations.

But the only thing keeping this angle as good as it has been will be the continued surprises. Not like TNA shock factor shit, but genuine surprises. A face turn by one of them, a stolen belt, somehow gaining legitimate power through the company. We all expect attacks every week. Time to surprise us in a new way.

 

[TMStick62aw]

I am saying that this is a good angle. It has also been a long while that I absolutely hated missing wrestling. I am moving and Direct TV will not be available until Tuesday so I will have missed two Raws, I know that in the past few years it hasnt bothered me as much as it does now since the Nexus angle. I'm a huge fan of stables in wrestling, have been since the nWo, so therefore I love it when a group is there that is "anti" the company they are employed for, much like the nWo. Yes there are differences, such as these arent established stars like the nWo mainly consisted of, but this isnt 1996 either, its 2010. I will give the Nexus its props I am enjoying it, if you don't enjoy it thats fine its your opinion, but to call other fans of wrestling stupid for being behind it...why would someone want to trash a fellow wrestling fan for being excited about wrestling. If fan's excitement about wrestling didnt exist anymore, then I would have to say the product would die off. So to answer the question, yes I agree its a great angle, I am enjoying the heck out of it, I can't wait to see where it goes, who knows, it could be a great angle, we'll just have to tune in and see.

 

[Bobby B]

The Nexus angle was good. The first night was a true WTF moment. But since then I've not seen anything to believe this angle anymore. If they are trying to setup an NXT vs RAW feud type thing, they've not exactly gone about it in a very good way.

The first RAW after the invasion was good - a little predictable, but good. Since then I've watched 7 hours of programming that they've been on and this angle hasn't gone anywhere - they got contracts, then attacked Vince McMahon (and nobody came out to help - which made zero sense), then they attacked the legends, which didn't move the angle anywhere - at all.

Rather than being "the best angle in 8 years" I think they've got two weeks to save it.

 

[Freddy4190]

This got me paying attention to the WWE again. My love for wrestling pretty much just faded away after tiresome storylines and boring guest hosts. I just don't really care that much for it. Then this shit comes along, and my interest is piqued. I need to know who's gonna catch a beatdown next! TNA's cool, but WWE is doing the damn thing with this angle.

 

[amodernphoenix]

Point blank, the only difference between a successful and an unsucessful angle is whether it puts asses in the seats, viewers in the ratings and higher buyrates for the ppv's. That's all that really matters in the discussion of whether or not an angle is good or not good.