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Before the situation became too incendiary, Raw’s GM intervened to arrange a match pitting Barrett against Punk with one significant stipulation: The loser of the bout will see himself and his entire group exiled from the Royal Rumble Match. And the contest’s special guest referee? None other than John Cena!

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Steepening the odds further, CM Punk approached to announce that he and the entire “new” Nexus will also participate in the Rumble and aim to secure the win for The Second City Savior. As if to demonstrate, Punk and his Nexus minions surrounded the ring. Before they could attack, however, WWE Tag Team Champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov joined forces with Cena. Retaliating for a Nexus ambush, Santino & Vlad were all too happy to stand with Cena. Before the situation could devolve further, the Raw General Manager altered the scheduled main event match pitting Cena against Punk, stipulating that if any Nexus members interfered, they would be eliminated from Rumble competition.

The Second City Savior is going to need a larger house of worship. The main event pitted CM Punk against John Cena when a nameless colossus charged the ring and distracted the Cenation Commander-in-Chief. It would prove a costly diversion. Punk took advantage and hit his opponent with a punishing maneuver. Before Cena could recover, Punk stood before the interloper and sacrificed himself, allowing the oversized stranger to level him.

As a result, the leader of the “new” Nexus won the match by disqualification. When the remaining members of the group charged the ring, though, Punk waved them off. Instead, he pulled out a Nexus armband and slipped it onto the mystery man, who proceeded to genuflect before The Second City Savior.

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Punk led the band of outlaws in an attack on current tag champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov. He then sprang a surprise on his own minions. Every Nexus member, including himself, must undergo an initiation ritual to prove themselves worthy of the yellow and black band.

To establish his devotion, Michael McGillicutty was forced to endure the finishing move of each of his cohorts. The third-generation competitor reluctantly agreed, and by the time Punk delivered the final punishing maneuver, a GTS, McGillicutty appeared to be slipping in and out of consciousness.

One down, five to go.

Husky Harris faced a daunting test. In the second Nexus initiation of the night, the third-generation Superstar was required by CM Punk to undergo a series of strap lashings. As fellow Nexi cracked the leather slabs down upon his back, Harris writhed in pain. The ordeal finally ended at Punk’s discretion, after he had deemed Harris worthy enough to remain in the group.

Unenviable task, meet immovable object. Big Show dropped by Raw to brag to the WWE Universe that it would be he who was going to prevail at this month’s Royal Rumble. During his tirade, however, The Nexus interrupted him. As if that weren’t masochistic enough, David Otunga, in pursuit of carrying out his initiation, hesitantly stepped into the ring, faced The World’s Largest Athlete and slapped him across the face. Needless to say, Show unleashed his wrath on a yielding Otunga and left him shattered on the canvas.

Not all Nexus initiations end with a brutal crescendo. When CM Punk insisted that Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel slug it out with kendo sticks in order to prove themselves worthy of the group, the two original members were clearly averse from the get-go. Although the two circled one another ominously, they eventually laid down their weapons and stormed out on The Second City Savior.

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Before tensions could escalate, Raw’s anonymous General Manager announced that a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match would take place later in the evening in order to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Title. Upon hearing the news, Punk and Barrett agreed to a deal. Punk offered the Englishman his opportunity to compete in the match against King Sheamus and Randy Orton. Were Barrett to win, he would remain leader of The Nexus. However, were he to lose, he would be banished from the group forever.

Nexus nemesis CM Punk offered to assist him. As Barrett took his hand, the Straight Edge Superstar ripped the Nexus armband from the Englishman and booted him down to the canvas. There, The Celtic Warrior greeted him with a Brogue Kick. Orton then leveled Sheamus with an RKO and slithered past his opponents and through the cage door to victory. As a result, Barrett will be forever banished from The Nexus while The Viper will face WWE Champion The Miz in a title match at Royal Rumble in four weeks.

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Prior to his match against CM Punk, WWE’s 2010 Superstar of the Year was confronted by Nexus loyalist David Otunga, who suspiciously offered to bury the hatchet in the new year. He even proclaimed that Nexus was under new management, presumably having ousted Wade Barrett. After being rebuffed by a guarded Cena, Otunga and his Nexus cohorts attacked, leaving a Nexus armband in the ring.

After leaving their rival battered, Nexus exited and CM Punk, who had been trying to rally the Raw roster against Cena all evening, assumed their position. The Straightedge Superstar shrewdly nailed his opponent with a GTS, then slipped the Nexus armband on himself, signaling that perhaps Punk will be the new ringleader of the yellow-and-black brigade.

When it comes to snide, arrogant, Straight Edge weasels, John Cena’s not exactly a fan. And who could blame the guy? Last week, WWE’s 2010 Superstar of the Year appeared finally to be putting a tumultuous year behind him by besting Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler. As he reveled in the victory, however, CM Punk ambushed him and slammed a steel chair into his back. The Second City Savior then did the same, mere days later on SmackDown.

Soon after Cena called out the self-righteous Superstar, Punk defended The Nexus as well as SmackDown Official Consultant Vickie Guerrero and opined that WWE’s 2010 Superstar of the Year was nothing more than a bully. Perhaps the only thing the two were able to agree upon was that they would face off later in the evening.

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After Punk’s acceptance speech, a couple of other despicable Superstars, Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler & Ted DiBiase, teamed up to challenge U.S. Champion Daniel Bryan & Kofi Kingston in a tag team match. Although Ziggler & DiBiase waged an aggressive offense, Bryan & Kingston managed to surmount the challenge for the victory.

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates but I have been out of town. I’m catching up on all the updates I missed, starting with the captures of Punk’s WWE Superstars appearance and Monday Night Raw Results from this past week.

Screen Captures > WWE Superstars > 2010 > November 18th

Digitals > Raw is War > 2010 > November 22

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As the list of remaining competitors dwindled down, the final four Superstars were Edge and Rey Mysterio vs. Ezekiel Jackson and Team Raw captain The Miz.

Despite Team Raw’s confidence and drive, it was a Spear from The Rated-R Superstar to The Miz which earned Team SmackDown the win.

At last year’s WWE Bragging Rights, the winning brand was determined by tallying the number of victories from each brand during the entire night. This year however, everything rode on which brand won the tag team match.

What’s next from the reigning WWE brand? Catch the next edition of SmackDown at 8/7 CT on Syfy. Click here to find Syfy in your area.