When David Otunga stormed the ring with the Nexus in one of the crucial chaotic and memorable WWE moments of the PG period, followers thought it was simply an edgy storyline. However in response to Otunga, the whole angle was actual, and so had been the stakes—as a result of Vince McMahon flat-out advised them they’d be fired if it didn’t look violent sufficient.
Throughout his look on TMZ’s Inside The Ring, Otunga gave an unfiltered have a look at what actually went down behind the scenes earlier than the Nexus invasion of Monday Evening RAW in June 2010. As Otunga recalled, all eight NXT rookies had been summoned to the present the week after the NXT finale with no concept what was occurring. No person talked to all of them day. Then, moments earlier than the stay broadcast, they had been referred to as into Vince McMahon’s workplace. Otunga stated Vince McMahon and Michael Hayes laid out the stunning directive:
“Look, that is what’s going to occur. We wish you to go down, storm the principle occasion. We wish you to wreak havoc and tear every thing up. Beat up John Cena, beat up CM Punk, everyone. The announcer, the timekeeper, tear the ring up. We’re going to provide you field cutters and stuff. Tear the place aside. And if it doesn’t look vicious sufficient—you’re fired.”
Otunga admitted that as a comparatively new expertise with barely a handful of matches underneath his belt, he was terrified—and issues obtained actual rapidly. He was given the duty to throw the very first punch of the ambush, and it needed to be on referee Chad Patton. It wasn’t only a labored punch both.
“I needed to throw the primary punch on Chad Patton, the referee, and it needed to look good,” Otunga stated. “Vince stated, ‘Hey, if it doesn’t look good, you’re fired.’ I used to be like, ‘Properly, we gotta actually begin.’ Chad Patton, sorry buddy, however you’re going to must eat one.”
The angle seemed so actual that even the stay crowd believed it had spiraled uncontrolled.
“After we beat up everyone on the announce desk, a fan reached over the railing and began ringing the ring bell—to get assist,” he revealed.
Even WWE expertise backstage didn’t understand it was a piece. Some had been apparently prepared to leap the Nexus within the locker room after the phase as a result of they thought it was an actual shoot.
Otunga additionally addressed the controversial firing of Daniel Bryan, who was launched by WWE shortly after the phase aired for choking announcer Justin Roberts along with his tie—a picture that reportedly violated PG-era tips.
“They advised us to go laborious or we had been fired. They by no means advised us what the road was. In reality, they advised us, ‘Go too laborious and we’ll pull you again,’” Otunga defined. “Daniel Bryan obtained fired for choking Justin Roberts… and I didn’t essentially agree with it. He was doing what they advised him to do.”
Wanting again, Otunga stated that the Nexus invasion was profitable as a result of it felt genuine—as a result of it was. The group didn’t know in the event that they had been nonetheless employed and had been actually preventing for his or her careers on stay tv. That sense of desperation, mixed with Vince’s cutthroat instruction, turned the phase into one thing unforgettable.
It wasn’t only a storyline. It was a career-defining second the place failure meant getting fired on the spot.
Do you suppose Vince McMahon went too far along with his calls for throughout the Nexus invasion? Ought to Daniel Bryan have been fired for merely following orders? Drop your ideas within the feedback—we need to hear from you.
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September 26, 2025 6:51 am