Otunga says Nexus debut driven by real management threat

Former WWE wrestler David Otunga said this week that the June 7, 2010 debut of The Nexus on Monday Night Raw was driven by a real threat from management and by late creative decisions that reshaped the faction's trajectory. Otunga told peers the group of eight recent NXT graduates were summoned the night of the segment and warned they would be fired if the invasion did not look violent and convincing.

Otunga said company executives told the rookies to "go down, storm the main event, wreak havoc and tear everything up," and that performers would be given box cutters and instructed to make the attack feel vicious. He said he was assigned to throw the segment's first punch, aimed at referee Chad Patton, and recalled being told, "If it doesn't look good, you're fired." According to Otunga, the beatdown was so realistic that some members of the live crowd believed it had become an uncontrolled brawl and a number of wrestlers backstage were not informed it was a storyline and reacted as if it were real.

The segment's realism made it one of the most talked-about debuts in company history, and Otunga described it as a career-defining moment for the rookies because they believed their...