A former WWE star has opened up on what Vince McMahon said ahead of their debut, and how they would be ‘fired’ if it didn’t look ‘real’.
The Nexus debut back in 2010 would go on to become one of the most iconic debuts in WWE history, with the eight NXT rookies taking over the closing moments of Monday Night Raw.
While the storyline didn’t reach the potential many believed it should have, the group were the hottest thing in the company for the first two months of their debut.
Nexus Member Recalls The Chaotic Debut
What made the Nexus debut so impactful was the fact that it stood out compared to a very PG, family friendly WWE product at the time in 2010, with the arena being completely destroyed at the request of Vince McMahon, who also held a rather threatening sword over the heads of the debutants.
Opening up on the debut on the F Y’All Podcast, Nexus member Michael Tarver recalled speaking to Vince McMahon ahead of the debut, and how he said they would be ‘fired’ if the segment ‘didn’t look real’.
He said:
“The debut weekend, we had just finished the first season of the original NXT, and they were kinda keeping us on a string, we didn’t know what was gonna happen week to week, we thought we might have got released, and I was the first person, myself and Daniel Bryan, we were the first ones to get eliminated. So I’m thinking I might actually lose my contract over a scripted game show, that’s kinda weird.
“I went back down to developmental, just tried to keep my head up and then the season ends and the winner was Wade Barrett, then a week later I get travel again. I’m like ‘Miami? Ok.’
“So they send us to Miami, that weekend I had proposed to my second ex-wife the day before, I had no idea what was about to happen the next day. So I proposed to her the day before, and we get to the arena and they bring us all into a room and said here’s what’s gonna happen.
“There’s Vince McMahon, John Cena’s in the room, all the agents, the producers, and they start handing us these armbands, and we’re like ‘what’s this?’ So they said ‘this is what you’re about to do, you’re going to go out there and destroy everything, and it has to be real.’ Everything, anybody runs up, you knock em out no matter who it is. We’re giving people bonuses if they get hurt, so it’s all real.
“And we look at each other like ‘oh, okay’, and then Vince said ‘if it doesn’t look real you’re fired’. Yes sir. Yep. Everybody getting punched.
“We weren’t allowed to tell any of the talent either, so we’re walking around chilling and they end up asking us ‘what are you doing tonight?’ ‘Nothing. We’re not doing anything.’ but people kept coming up to us to see which of us would break.”
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Daniel Bryan’s Ironic Firing
In a very ironic twist of fate from Tarver’s comments, the original Nexus eight would immediately become the Nexus seven the following week, as Daniel Bryan was fired from WWE for his actions during the Nexus debut segment, where he choked ring announcer Justin Roberts with his tie.
Tarver would go on to mention Bryan’s firing for being ‘too real’, and how he and the rest of the members of the group initially thought it was a worked firing, with the story being that Bryan was kicked out of the group.
Bryan would go on to be re-signed by WWE, returning in the Team WWE vs. Team Nexus match at SummerSlam, before going on to capture multiple world titles during his iconic career in the company.
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