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Before the match even began, No. 1 entrant CM Punk was ambushed by The Corre, resulting in a massive brawl between the SmackDown group and The New Nexus. When the smoke settled and the Rumble started proper, The Straight Edge Superstar survived long enough to be joined by his New Nexus cohorts and the sinister set proceeded to control the match for an extended period of time. That was until John Cena arrived.

I didn’t realize the navigation was wrong. Several of you emailed me that you could not access the forums because you did not know the URL by heart. Well, all is fixed. The navigation has been fixed, including the URL for the forums. Sorry guys.

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Wade Barrett isn’t going away – no matter how much we wish he would. The former leader of The Nexus confronted the man who replaced him, CM Punk, who had gleefully introduced his group’s newest member, Mason Ryan. This time, though, Barrett brought reinforcements – his new group, The Corre, including Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel.

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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John Cena is back! After two weeks of rehabilitation due to an injury suffered at the hands of CM Punk and the “new” Nexus, Cena rocked the rafters with his homecoming as 2011’s WWE Superstar of the Year vowed to overcome his injuries to win Royal Rumble in two weeks and go on to win the WWE Title at WrestleMania. The current champion, The Miz, took issue. The “Cleveland Screamer” whined – again – about not being appreciated and informed Cena that the odds are against him winning the Rumble since there will now be 40 entrants as opposed to the usual 30.

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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CM Punk continues to impose his self-righteous revolt upon the Raw roster. As the de facto leader of the “new” Nexus, The Second City Savior foiled a scheduled WWE Tag Team Title Match in order to satiate his ego.

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.

A while back a photoshoot done by Denis Rouvre was shared, only a single image. I have found another image and it’s now in the gallery. A better version of the previous picture is also now in the gallery.

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Call it a case of too many chiefs, not enough idiots. Last week, CM Punk appeared to take the reins of the “new” Nexus. This week, though, The Second City Savior ran up against the group’s founder, Wade Barrett, who took issue with the power grab. The two even bickered over who could rightly claim credit for John Cena’s recent injury, which kept WWE’s 2010 Superstar of the Year out of action (he may return next week).

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.