On a recent episode of TMZ Inside The Ring, former WWE Superstar David Otunga confirmed one of the most debated rumors in modern wrestling history: that John Cena was personally responsible for changing the finish of the Team WWE vs. The Nexus match at SummerSlam 2010. Otunga stated that the original plan was for The Nexus to win, and Cena’s last-minute change crippled the group’s momentum.
The main event of SummerSlam 2010 saw John Cena survive a 2-on-1 disadvantage to make Wade Barrett submit, securing the victory for Team WWE. The booking decision has been heavily criticized for years by fans, who largely agree with Otunga that it effectively ended what had been the most compelling storyline in the company.
“I think collectively, people agreed, like, we should have won at SummerSlam. That’s an infamous story,” Otunga said. “We were supposed to win at SummerSlam all day until about an hour or two before showtime. The finish was changed, and we knew who changed it, and they told us who changed it. It was John Cena.”
Otunga recalled that even other veterans on Team WWE, such as Chris Jericho and Edge, disagreed with the decision. The loss, he explained, was the beginning of the end for the white-hot faction. “We disagreed with it. And with the ending, we should have won, but Cena went over, and it completely cut the legs out from under us, and after that, Nexus kind of fell apart.”
He questioned the creative logic behind building up a new group for months, only to have them lose their first match. “Why would you spend the entire summer building this faction that had so much heat… why would you have us lose? That’s like having somebody debut and they lose in their first match. It doesn’t make sense,” he stated. “And it didn’t. And I think, backstage, collectively, everybody agreed with that. I think John knows deep down that that was the wrong decision.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
