The Shield or the Nexus?

[CM Steel]

Both heel factions that were the Shield and the Nexus were both very infamous in the eras that they were both in. They walked in the same footprints as the legendary New World Order (nWo) did during their heyday in WCW. The savage attacks, attacking wrestlers backstage, the creepy promos, ECT. But which of these two stables were the best to watch during their time as a unit the Shield or the Nexus?

Most guys from the original Nexus didn't work out but has produced a future main eventer in Wade Barrett aka Bad News Barrett whenever BNB is healthy. While members of the shield are on their way to great things, mainly one Roman Reigns. So in your own honest opinion. Who was the best group to watch on WWE TV, The Shield or the Nexus?

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

The Shield by a long distance. Both factions have a lot of strong talent. The major difference is that the Shield looked competitive against SUPERCENA. The Nexus used to beat him down but he would no sell the aftermath and it ruined their aura. And for them to lose in the SummerSlam 2010 main event was just stupid. But none the less - a lot of great talent came from the Nexus.

The Shield just were awesome.

 

[Aydust]

I voted for the Shield here in what wasn't a hard decision.

No disrespect to Nexus as they were a force to be reckoned with in their day but the last time I checked the Shield did much more than them with 5 less members. You mention Wade Barrett and while Nexus was definitely a stepping stone for him, you could argue that he was really the only one who benefited from it. Everyone else has either disappeared or been repackaged. Now look at the Shield.

Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose have all benefited from teaming together and I'd even argue that they wouldn't be where they are right now had they not. Both teams lasted for a little over a year but people are going to remember the Shield in 10 years. Can you honestly say the same for Nexus?

 

[A11oftheLights]

Both heel factions that were the Shield and the Nexus were both very infamous in the eras that they were both in. They walked in the same footprints as the legendary New World Order (nWo) did during their heyday in WCW. The savage attacks, attacking wrestlers backstage, the creepy promos, ECT. But which of these two stables were the best to watch during their time as a unit the Shield or the Nexus?

Most guys from the original Nexus didn't work out but has produced a future main eventer in Wade Barrett aka Bad News Barrett whenever BNB is healthy. While members of the shield are on their way to great things, mainly one Roman Reigns. So in your own honest opinion. Who was the best group to watch on WWE TV, The Shield or the Nexus?

There is no comparison, the Shield looks like its developed three stars without the need for a total repackage/ gimmick change i.e Skip Sheffield/Ryback, Not one star has come from the Nexus, excluding Daniel Bryan who was in for a mere one segment. You can say Wade Barrett all you want but even he was repackaged as BNB and has been out injured for as long as he has been active.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Is this one of those threads in which the answer to the question is painfully obvious, yet the OP sort of wants to know how many agree or disagree with his own opinion?

Meh, I'll bite. I can't see any remote argument that can be made for The Nexus over The Shield. The Shield is ultimately what I think Nexus MIGHT have been able to become at one point, but they didn't come remotely close. Of the original wrestlers involved in NXT Season I, who would become Nexus, the only two that've really managed to have strong careers in WWE are Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan. Bryan was fired after their attack on Raw, which part of me still thinks is some sort of a work to this day, and Barrett was really the only one in the faction that was elevated. He was the glue that held the group together. Unfortunately, WWE decided to feed Nexus to John Cena. As a result, most of the members looked like weak kittens considering that Cena essentially took all of them out at various times. Barrett's career has suffered major setbacks due to injury and Daniel Bryan is the only one that's risen to that next level.

When it comes to The Shield, you're ultimately looking at three guys who were flat out dominant over the course of 1.5 years. They scored various wins or decisive beat downs of most of the biggest stars in WWE to debut in the past 20 years or so. I think Roman Reigns is the overall weakest of the group, but he's really over, fans are interested in him and that's ultimately what counts the most. Rollins & Ambrose are generally on the same level, in my eyes, with Rollins being stronger in the ring and Ambrose stronger on the mic, though that's not to say that either of them is weak in one area.

If Triple H had been in the legit position of authority in 2010 that he has now, I genuinely believe that things could've gone different for Nexus. Big Johnny was head of talent relations, WWE developmental and was essentially a spineless "yes man" for Vince McMahon. The Shield was a Triple H project comprised of men that he thought were ready, had faith in, knew what they were capable of and was able to convince Vince that they had the stuff. That's why The Shield will probably go down as one of the best factions of the past 15 years in any company and Nexus will serve as a bittersweet example of a group that could have been fantastic.

 

[Reflection]

The Shield all the way.
The Nexus were a group of Jobbers that used to ambush random people with a substantial numerical advantage, but fell totally flat in one-on-one or against an equal number of opponents, especially against top stars. The Shield, on the other hand, beat teams of people like Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus, within a few months of debuting. They had exceptional coordination and kicked ass in all types of matches.

 

[King Patrick Star]

If the Stable(s) in question are not the Four Horsemen, the New World Order, D-Generation X, Evolution, or the Main Event Mafia, then the highest they can rank, in my opinion, is 6th. To me, Nexus and the Shield are tied. The Nexus had all the potential in the world to become the greatest Stable in history. The Shield executed far better with only 3 members. The Nexus should have taken every single Championship active on Raw and Smackdown with Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan leading the charge as WWE Champion and World Champion respectively. The Shield should have added one more member. Either way, I’ll give the nod to the Shield for the outcome of their storyline, but if we were to vote on this again in the future, my opinion might change.

 

[MWRedskins]

this is really an easy answer. Nexus was a LARGE stable that started off great and their gang mentality worked out great. The Shield were three guys fighting for their version of justice. So which of these stables was better?? if i had to rank them, Nexus falls past other big stables including nWo, DX, Four Horsemen, Evolution, Main Event Mafia, the Nation of Domination, the Corporation, the Ministry and even the Wyatt Family. However, the Shield in my book is up there with those groups.

the reason why i have Shield over Nexus is 1) The Shield helped create three future stars. Rollins in my book should be World Champion ASAP, Reigns will likely (and should) win the title at WM and Ambrose should be in the title picture and eventually win it sometime too. all three can wrestle, Rollins and Ambrose can talk while Reigns has this cool look and style. the Nexus only helped Wade Barrett and even he had to go through a bunch of gimmick changes to get him over. the rest of Nexus either are jobbers/below mid carders or got repackaged. 2) the Shield was just 3 guys while the Nexus was really large and that hurt. the Shield looked better with their beatings as it was just three guys, Nexus had about 6. 3) The Shield rarely lost six man tag matches which is a great way to push a stable, show that they can built down people, but also win matches. so that's why i say the Shield is better than The Nexus.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I give Nexus credit for three things, their original impact was enormous, Gabriel's 450 splash looked cool, and they basically made Cena their bitch for a couple of weeks and then got him fired. I would say getting Cena to join their little club was probably one of the greatest accomplishments in wrestling history. I mean think about it, John Cena was a member of the Nexus at one short point in time. That is enormous, it is the closest way he has ever come to being a heel. Unfortunately it was short lived and not very well executed.

If that were done better i think there may be an argument herr but overall ability and entertainment value and legacy goes to The Shield. They have been for the most part more dominating and just better performers. Their arc has been pretty fluid. I like that they feigned a break up well before it happened. I loved their match with The Rhodes Brothers. They complemented each other perfectly in their matches. Their promos were pretty fun. Their encounter with The Wyatts was well done. The triple power bombs through tables was pretty good. They helped keep Punk a heel and build Daniel Bryan. They made me give a crap about multi man matches.

And they won, a lot, against some top names.

 

[Redemption-2012]

The Shield all the way. To me The Nexus were just a bunch of cronies used to make John Cena look good and none of them currently "big time" superstars or anything. The Shield produced three fantastic performers in Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

 

[Pedigree1]

The Nexus IMO will always be a group if Only IF.. Only If had they stuck around longer than they did.. Did they break up too soon. Fuck yes they did way too soon..

In 2010 Big Johnny was in charge of talent relations,and Trips was no where to be seen in any sort of Mgmt Position.. The Nexus was a absolutely brilliant idea,awesome they way they made their debut.. The whole way they tore up the ring,ringside,DB choked Justin Roberts with his tie,subsequently got fired for that and Barrett was the ringmaster.

They should have easily won every title available to them. True there were weak members Darren Young Michael Tarver,but all of them gelled so well together.. But Vince or whoever decided to kill them by feeding them to Cena one a time,and making them look like helpless puppies.. Big Mistake IMO..

The Shield are a Triple H product and his idea.. Three guys who were as ready as anyone could be.. Reigns the muscle but also the weakest member as mic wise and ring wise goes.. Ambrose the talker of the group,a master on the mic and a great ring worker. Rollins the athlete,the one who could flat out wrestle his ass off.. The shield were together for almost 2 years,and flat out made their mark. Possibly the best in 15 years or so..

I just cant help to think and wonder if the Nexus were given a chance would they have had more success than the Shield?

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

Its no question, the Shield dominated everyone in every match they were in, while Nexus lost their first and only real important match of their time together.
IMO I would take the Nexus over the Shield because of the talent in the group. I would take Daniel Bryan over Seth Rollins, I would take Wade Barrett over Dean Ambrose and I would have taken Skip Shieffield/Ryback over Roman Reigns. Then you had Gabriel and Slater in a pretty good tag team also. The Shield had excellent booking, while the Nexus was ruined by John Cena at summerslam. (In their first important match)
But there's no denying The Shield is the most dominate group in WWE since Evolution. Many people believe that Evolution succeeded so much because they had the past, present, and future type thing going on, and for any group to succeed you had to have that P,P, & F type thing going on. The Shield proved EVERYONE wrong.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The Shield was better than The Nexus, there is simply no way around it. The Shield's members were above average in every category whereas in Nexus many members were forgettable. Wade Barrett is the only Nexus member who truly would have made it out of the original Nexus and then you have New Nexus which was absolutely horrible and a waste of everyone's time, unlike The Shield who had all three members show huge potential from day one. Someone once described The Shield as being everything that Nexus wished they were.

Barrett would have become a big star had he not run into so much bad luck with injuries. Otunga could have gone into a speaking role as a manager or GM but never had any in-ring talent. Slater and Gabriel could still be successful in the tag team division if they reunite, by themselves though that ship has sailed long ago. Ryback is doomed to be a jobber at this point, and his big push came after Nexus was done. Tarver sucked, so did Young. Husky Harris sucked until he became Bray Wyatt long after Nexus. Nexus did nothing for McGillicutty, who saw more success as Axel. Don't even get me started on Mason Ryan.

The Shield's members on the other hand? Roman Reigns has an impressive look, an impressive finisher, and can work better matches than most larger wrestlers. Dean Ambrose is excellent on the mic as well as in the ring. Seth Rollins is just as good as Dean Ambrose and in the ring he is even better. All three of these guys looked like they would be huge stars someday so watching The Shield was extremely enjoyable for the entire run of the stable. Nexus on the other hand.... I was a big fan of the original group during its attacks in the summer of 2010 and for most of the following fall semester but even then I knew not everyone in that group could become a star. When they got to the point where CM Punk took over the group, I lost nearly all interest. I'd even go as far as to say that I hated New Nexus. I have nothing negative to say about The Shield and plenty of negatives for Nexus, so in conclusion....

The Shield was better and it's not even close.

 

[The massive hulk]

For me I believe that the nexus is the better faction because they had a rivalry against pretty much the whole company, leading to an elimination 7-on-7 tag match at Summerslam 2010 which is the best match at Summerslam for years. Wade Barrett also had a WWE Championship push in late 2010. When Wade Barrett did not win the championship, I did not like it as it would have given the Nexus a final dominance.
Now the Nexus is like this
Wade Barrett - Injured but multiple Intercontinental championships.
Daniel Bryan - Injured but multiple time WWE World Heavyweight champion.
Heath Slater - 3MB and humiliated but funny.
David Otunga - A movie holding flask of coffee and nothing else.
Skip Sheffield - Repackaged as Ryback after injury, title push now part of Rybaxel.
Michael Tarver - Left WWE
Justin Gabriel - Grew his hair and NXT sometimes.
Darren Young - Prime Time Players and came out - Very Courageous.

My rankings in 2010 in terms of impact and success.
1.Wade Barrett
2.Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Daniel Bryan, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, Daid Otunga, Darren Young

My rankings in 2014 in terms of impact and success.
1.Daniel Bryan
2.Wade Barrett
3.Ryback
4.Heath Slater
5.Darren Young
6.Justin Gabriel
7.David Otunga
8.Michael Tarver

The Shield did not obtain my vote because they done a face turn when the should of stayed heel. Roman Reigns was the one who should have turned face to leave Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose on their own.

ps Wade Barrett,Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel were joined by Ezekiel Jackson to form the Corre on Smackdown with not as much impact.

pps 8 is better than 3.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Radical]

The Shield by a LONG SHOT.

The Nexus were a bunch of goofs who looked idiotic standing around in the Nexus shirts with no pants all the time. Not one of them knew what pants looked like and it made them just look like big toddlers in the ring. They got pushed but as almost faceless goofs. Barrett was the only stand out.

The Shield on the other hand were a perfect size. Each tremendously talented and unique enough to stand out. Their attire was refreshingly unique and they put on great matches.

The Shield are a group which will likely be like DX who may have split up but down the road I'm sure they will get back together for the right cause. The fans would love it. Obviously, not for a while, but it will work again.

 

[QuadrupleH]

@Radical is spot on about the lack of pants...

Goes to the Shield without question. I was at the show when the Nexus debuted on Raw and it was pretty cool being there and I remember thinking at the time it would be one of those moments that ushered in a new era or changed things. Looking back, that was a dumb thought.

Everything about the Shield is better - the talent, the look, even the way they enter the arena from the stands. If you examined the Nexus individually, there were so many weak spots - not so with the Shield. Of course, that has all been said. What you have to wonder is if the Shield would have been handled properly had the Nexus versions 1, 2, and 3 not been handled so poorly. If the ball dropping of Nexus led to the Shield being such a great stable, then thank goodness it occurred. Not only did we get a properly handled Shield and a solo D-bry, we got a repacked Bray Wyatt to boot.

Not too shabby.