Team WWE

Team WWE refers to a group of professional wrestlers that represents World Wrestling Entertainment in storylines against different factions that try to end WWE.
History
Formation & War against the Alliance (2001)
Formation of The Alliance / Team WWF
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had been rival promotions throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, which even resulted in the Monday Night Wars between WWF's Raw is War and WCW's Monday Nitro. On March 23, 2001, WWF Owner Vince McMahon bought WCW to end Monday Night Wars. He proceeded to buy Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in April.
On March 26, the final edition of Nitro aired, in which a storyline was created to set the Invasion storyline. Shane McMahon revealed himself to be the (kayfabe) owner of WCW as he had bought the company out of his father's nose. At WrestleMania X-Seven, Shane defeated Vince in a match.
On May 28 edition of Raw is War, the Invasion storyline began when former WCW wrestler Lance Storm debuted in WWF by making a . At King of the Ring, another former WCW wrestler Booker T debuted in WWF by making a run-in during a Triple Threat match between Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho for the WWF Championship. Booker injured Austin but Austin still managed to retain the title. The following night, on Raw is War, Vince McMahon confronted the storyline WCW Owner Shane McMahon. Booker delivered a Scissors Kick to Vince from behind. WWF wrestlers stormed to the ring to attack Shane and Booker but the two escaped the ring.
Shane McMahon and the WCW wrestlers were initially portrayed as heroes and Vince McMahon and the bad guys of the WWF roster were portrayed as villains. The final twenty minutes of the July 2 edition of Raw and the July 5 edition of SmackDown, were given to WCW but the WWF fans booed and disliked WCW content. As a result, the entire WCW roster along with Shane McMahon became villains and Vince McMahon and the WWF roster became fan favorites. On July 9 edition of Raw is War, ECW wrestlers debuted during a tag team match between WWF wrestlers Chris Jericho and Kane and WCW wrestlers Lance Storm and Mike Awesome. The WWF wrestlers, who had competed for ECW in the past, turned on Jericho and Kane to join the ECW invaders. Color commentator Paul Heyman allied himself with ECW. Shane and Vince formed an alliance to end ECW. Later that night, a ten-man tag team match was booked between 10 ECW wrestlers and 5 WWF and 5 WCW wrestlers. WCW and ECW wrestlers formed an alliance to double-cross WWF. Shane then revealed it to be his sinister plan and Stephanie McMahon was revealed as the storyline owner of ECW. Shane and Stephanie formed a group called WCW/ECW Alliance. As a result, Vince McMahon formed Team WWF to battle Alliance.
Team WWF vs. The Alliance
On July 12 edition of SmackDown, Vince McMahon appointed Stone Cold Steve Austin as the leader of Team WWF against The Alliance and wanted Austin to become the same "Texas Rattlesnake" that used to bully McMahon, instead of hugging or baking cookies for him as Austin had changed his gimmick at WrestleMania X-Seven, when Vince helped Austin in defeating The Rock for the WWF Championship. Austin had been feuding with Vince for several years up to that point but since Vince had helped him in winning, Austin totally changed his behaviour with Vince.
At InVasion pay-per-view event, several matches took place between WWF and Alliance representatives. It was the first pay-per-view event to feature WWF against Alliance. At the InVasion pre-show Sunday Night Heat, Alliance member Chavo Guerrero, Jr. defeated WWF wrestler Scotty 2 Hotty. In the first match, WWF's tag team Edge and Christian defeated Alliance's tag team Lance Storm and Mike Awesome. WWF continued its advantage against Alliance with WWF referee Earl Hebner defeating Alliance referee Nick Patrick in a match that featured Mick Foley as the special guest referee. In the third match of the event, WWF's tag team Acolytes Protection Agency (Faarooq and Bradshaw) defeated Alliance tag team Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo.
Alliance finally gained advantage when Alliance wrestler Billy Kidman defeated WWF wrestler X-Pac. Alliance continued its advantage with Alliance member Raven defeating WWF wrestler William Regal. Alliance got a third consecutive victory as Chris Kanyon, Shawn Stasiak and Hugh Morrus defeated WWF representatives Big Show, Billy Gunn and Albert in a six-man tag team match. The momentum switched between WWF and Alliance as WWF's Tajiri defeated Alliance's Tazz and Alliance's Rob Van Dam defeated WWF's Jeff Hardy to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. It marked the first time that an Alliance member won a WWF title.
WWF Divas Trish Stratus and Lita carried the momentum for WWF by defeating Alliance women Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler in a Bra and Panties match that featured Mick Foley as the special guest referee. The was a ten-man tag team match between Team WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Brothers of Destruction) and The Alliance (Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno and Dudley Boyz). Team Alliance defeated Team WWF when Austin turned on the team by helping Booker in pinning Angle. As a result, Team WWF leader Austin betrayed WWF and joined Alliance.
Stone Cold Steve Austin's defection to Alliance would give the faction, a championship advantage as Alliance got the WWF Championship with Austin being the WWF Champion. As a result, WWF lost its primary title and Kurt Angle became the leader of WWF. On July 23 edition of Raw is War, WWF lost another title to Alliance as Lance Storm defeated Albert for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. However, on July 26 edition of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle made history by becoming the first person to win a WCW title on WWF programming as he defeated Booker T to win the WCW Championship, thus bringing a world championship to WWF but Alliance would get back the title on July 30 edition of Raw is War, as Booker regained the title by defeating Angle, thus depriving WWF of two world titles. However, later that night, WWF earned a WCW title when the WWF Light Heavyweight Champion X-Pac defeated the WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a match with both titles on the line.
On that same night, The Rock returned to WWF. WWF Owner Vince McMahon and WCW Owner Shane McMahon pleaded for Rock to join their respective factions. Rock delivered a Rock Bottom to Vince because Vince had cost him the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven and suspended him after the title loss. He smiled and hugged Shane, shocking the WWF audience but he delivered a Rock Bottom and a to Shane. He remained loyal to WWF and he became a leading wrestler of WWF along with Kurt Angle.
On August 9 edition of SmackDown!, WWF lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to Alliance as Alliance's Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon defeated WWF's Tag Team Champions Acolytes Protection Agency when Test betrayed WWF by interfering on Alliance's behalf and joining the Alliance. However, on that same night, WWF won Alliance's WCW Tag Team Championship, as WWF's Brothers of Destruction defeated WCW's Tag Team Champions Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo for the titles. On August 13 edition of Raw is War, Jeff Hardy from WWF defeated Rob Van Dam from Alliance to win the WWF Hardcore Championship by using the during RVD's title defense against Kurt Angle.
Heading into SummerSlam, WWF had possession of six titles: the , WWF European Championship, WWF Hardcore Championship, WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, the WCW Tag Team Championship while Alliance had five titles: the WWF Championship, the WCW Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the WCW United States Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship. At the Sunday Night Heat pre-show before SummerSlam, a six-Diva tag team match took place between WWF Divas and Alliance Divas. The WWF Divas Lita, Jacqueline and Molly Holly defeated Alliance Divas Torrie Wilson, Stacy Keibler and Ivory.
At SummerSlam, seven matches took place between WWF wrestlers and Alliance wrestlers. In the first match, WWF's Edge defeated Alliance's Lance Storm to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship, thus bringing the Intercontinental Championship to WWF, thus giving WWF possession of seven championships. The second match was a six-man tag team match as Dudley Boyz and Test from Alliance defeated Acolytes Protection Agency and Spike Dudley from WWF. The third WWF vs. Alliance match gave WWF advantage as WWF representative Chris Jericho defeated Alliance's Rhyno. WWF suffered a title loss as Jeff Hardy lost the WWF Hardcore Championship to Rob Van Dam in a Ladder match. However, WWF gained control of both tag team titles as the WCW Tag Team Champions Brothers of Destruction defeated the WWF Tag Team Champions Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon in a Steel Cage match to retain the WCW Tag Team Championship and to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
In the main event matches, Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin retained the WWF Championship by disqualification against WWF leader Kurt Angle. The match was set up because Austin had turned on Angle during WWF vs. Alliance match at InVasion. However, WWF leader The Rock defeated Alliance member Booker T to win the WCW Championship. WWF had the advantage of winning matches against Alliance at SummerSlam. WWF won five matches and Alliance won only two matches. WWF gained possession of the WCW Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship Championship and lost the WWF Hardcore Championship, thus also getting successful in title matches. Alliance was able to retain only one championship and gain only one title.
On August 27 edition of Raw is War, WWF lost a title as WWF's Matt Hardy lost the WWF European Championship to Alliance member The Hurricane. On September 3 edition of Raw is War, Steven Richards returned to WWF and joined Alliance during a match between Undertaker and Test. He delivered a Steven Kick to Undertaker as he blamed Undertaker for destroying Richards' group Right to Censor. On September 10 edition of Raw is War, WWF earned a title when WWF wrestler Tajiri defeated Alliance member Chris Kanyon to win the WCW United States Championship. WWF earned another title as WWF's Kurt Angle defeated Alliance's Rob Van Dam to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. However, Stone Cold Steve Austin threw Angle and RVD off the stage, allowing RVD to use the 24/7 rule and defeat Angle to regain the Hardcore Championship. On September 17 edition of Raw is War, Alliance's Dudley Boyz defeated WWF's Brothers of Destruction to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship after interference by KroniK, Steven Richards' newest recruit tag team into Alliance.
At the Unforgiven pre-show Sunday Night Heat, WWF wrestler Billy Gunn defeated Alliance member Tommy Dreamer. Heading into Unforgiven, WWF had possession of seven titles: the WCW Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the WCW United States Championship, the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, the WWF Women's Championship and the WCW Tag Team Championship. At Unforgiven, seven matches took place between WWF and the Alliance. Alliance gained the early momentum with Dudley Boyz beating Hardy Boyz, Big Show & Spike Dudley and Lance Storm & The Hurricane in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship. Dudley Boyz and Storm and Hurricane represented Alliance whereas Hardy Boyz and Show and Dudley represented WWF. In the second WWF vs. Alliance match, WWF had the advantage as Perry Saturn defeated Raven. In the third WWF vs. Alliance match, Brothers of Destruction defeated KroniK to retain the WCW Tag Team Championship.
The fourth WWF vs. Alliance match saw Rob Van Dam defeat Chris Jericho to retain the WWF Hardcore Championship. WWF regained advantage as The Rock defeated Booker T and Shane McMahon in a Handicap match to retain the WCW Championship. WWF lost the WCW United States Championship with Rhyno defeating Tajiri. In the main event, WWF gained the WWF Championship as Kurt Angle defeated Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin to capture the title. The WWF roster congratulated Angle on winning the company's top title. At the event, WWF lost the WCW United States Championship but won the WWF Championship, thus getting possession of both world titles. WWF was successful at the event like SummerSlam by winning four matches.
On September 27 edition of SmackDown!, WWF lost a title as WWF's tag team Brothers of Destruction were defeated by Alliance's tag team Booker T and Test for the WCW Tag Team Championship. During this time, Molly Holly betrayed Spike Dudley and sided with Alliance's The Hurricane to become Mighty Molly and join Alliance. On October 8 edition of Raw is War, Hardy Boyz defeated Booker T and Test to win the WCW Tag Team Championship, thus bringing the title back to WWF. Later that night, Kurt Angle lost the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin after the WWF Commissioner William Regal turned villain by hitting Angle with the WWF Championship and helping Austin in defeating Angle for the title. Regal joined Alliance and became the Alliance Commissioner.
WWF started losing titles. On October 11 edition of SmackDown!, Billy Kidman defeated X-Pac to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. On October 15 edition of Raw is War, the WWF Intercontinental Champion Christian attacked Edge with the help of Alliance members and joined Alliance, causing Alliance to gain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
Tensions started rising within WWF as two of the members The Rock and Chris Jericho began feuding with each other, starting from the October 8 edition of Raw is War, when Jericho accidentally attacked Rock during a tag team match against Rob Van Dam and Shane McMahon from Alliance. On October 15 edition of Raw is War, Jericho cost Rock, a match against RVD by attacking RVD and getting Rock disqualified and then just seeing Rock get attacked by RVD and Rhyno. Later that night, Rock rescued Jericho by Alliance as Alliance members had started attacking Jericho during his match with Rhyno. However, Rock delivered a Rock Bottom to Jericho after clearing the ring of Alliance.
At Sunday Night Heat pre-show of No Mercy, two matches took place between WWF and Alliance. In the first match, Acolytes Protection Agency defeated Alliance's Chris Kanyon and Hugh Morrus. However, Alliance prevailed victorious in the second match as Billy Kidman defeated Scotty 2 Hotty to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. At No Mercy, seven matches took place between WWF and Alliance. In the first match, WWF gained advantage as Hardy Boyz defeated Lance Storm and The Hurricane to retain the WCW Tag Team Championship. The second match saw WWF suffer a loss with Test defeating Kane. The third match was a Lingerie match in which WWF's newest recruit Diva Torrie Wilson defeated Alliance Diva Stacy Keibler.
In the fourth WWF vs. Alliance match, WWF gained a title as Edge defeated Christian in a Ladder match to capture the WWF Intercontinental Championship. WWF suffered a loss as WWF members Big Show and Tajiri attempted to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship against Alliance's Dudley Boyz but lost. Undertaker defeated Booker T to gain momentum for WWF. In the main event, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat match to retain the WWF Championship. WWF continued its success of winning at pay-per-views against Alliance by winning four matches at the event.
On October 22 edition of Raw is War, WWF became very successful by winning four championships from Alliance. The first title change occurred when Tajiri defeated Billy Kidman to capture the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. WWF continued its success with Kurt Angle defeating Rhyno for the WCW United States Championship and Bradshaw defeating The Hurricane for the WWF European Championship. In the final title change, Chris Jericho and The Rock defeated Dudley Boyz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. On October 25 edition of SmackDown!, WWF lost a title when Dudley Boyz defeated Hardy Boyz to win the WCW Tag Team Championship.
On October 29 edition of Raw is War, WWF suffered a title loss as well as the loss of a leading superstar in Kurt Angle, who interfered during a Street Fight between WWF Owner Vince McMahon and WCW Owner Shane McMahon. Angle shocked WWF by attacking his WWF teammates with a steel chair and helping Shane in defeating Vince. He joined Alliance. On November 1 edition of SmackDown!, WWF suffered two title losses. In the first match, Booker T and Test defeated Chris Jericho and The Rock to win the WWF Tag Team Championship, thus depriving WWF of both tag team titles. The second match saw Christian defeat Bradshaw to capture the WWF European Championship.
At , eight matches took place between WWF and Alliance. Heading into Rebellion, WWF possessed only five titles: the WCW Championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and the WWF Women's Championship. In the first match of the event, WWF was successful as Edge defeated Christian in a Steel Cage match to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship. WWF continued to emerge victorious with the next two consecutive matches, with Scotty 2 Hotty defeating The Hurricane and Big Show defeating Diamond Dallas Page. WWF finally suffered a loss in a Triangle match that featured WWF representatives Acolytes Protection Agency and Hardy Boyz against Alliance's Dudley Boyz for the WCW Tag Team Championship. Dudley Boyz retained the titles. WWF suffered another loss as Tajiri was defeated by William Regal.
WWF won the next two consecutive matches as Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WCW Championship and WWF Divas Lita and Torrie Wilson defeated Alliance Divas Stacy Keibler and Mighty Molly in a Divas tag team match. Trish Stratus served as the special guest referee. In the main event, WWF leader The Rock was defeated by Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin in a WWF Championship match. Austin retained the title. WWF was successful at the event by winning five matches.
On November 5 edition of Raw is War, WWF suffered a title loss as Edge lost the WWF Intercontinental Championship to Alliance member Test. On November 8 edition of SmackDown!, Tazz quit Alliance and jumped ship to WWF because of his differences with Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin. On November 12 edition of Raw is War, WWF earned two titles. The first title change occurred when Edge defeated Kurt Angle to win the WCW United States Championship. In the second title change, Hardy Boyz defeated Booker T and Test to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship.
Aside from title changes, dissension occurred between Team WWF because The Rock and Chris Jericho feuded with each other over the WCW Championship. On October 29 edition of Raw is War, Vince McMahon announced that a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match would take place at Survivor Series between WWF and Alliance and the winning team would take over WWF. Vince selected The Rock as team captain and Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and Brothers of Destruction on his team but Angle joined Alliance later that night. As a result, Vince replaced Angle on the team but then named Big Show as his replacement.
At Survivor Series, seven matches took place between WWF and Alliance. In the Sunday Night Heat pre-show, Albert, Scotty 2 Hotty and Spike Dudley represented WWF against Alliance's Lance Storm, Justin Credible and Raven in a six-man tag team match. Storm, Credible and Raven won the match. The first WWF vs. Alliance match at the event featured Alliance member Christian defeating Al Snow to retain the WWF European Championship. WWF suffered another loss in the second match as Tajiri lost to William Regal. In the third match, WWF finally earned a victory when the WCW United States Champion Edge defeated the WWF Intercontinental Champion Test in a Title Unification match to unify the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WCW United States Championship. The fourth match was a Title Unification Steel Cage match, in which the WWF Tag Team Champions Hardy Boyz represented WWF against the WCW Tag Team Champions Dudley Boyz with both titles on the line. Dudley Boyz defeated Hardy Boyz to unify both championships.
The fifth match was an Immunity Battle Royal featuring several WWF and Alliance wrestlers. The winner would be granted an on-screen immunity from being fired for one year. The WWF representatives were Billy Gunn, Bradshaw, Faarooq, Albert, Tazz, Perry Saturn, Chuck Palumbo, Crash Holly, Spike Dudley and Funaki. However, Alliance member Test won the Battle Royal and received immunity from being fired by WWF. The sixth match was a Six-Pack Challenge to determine the new WWF Women's Champion. Trish Stratus, Lita and Jacqueline represented WWF. Jazz, Mighty Molly and Ivory were Alliance representatives. Stratus won the title.
The main event was a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match that would determine the future of WWF and the Alliance. WWF was captained by The Rock and represented by Chris Jericho, Big Show and Brothers of Destruction. Alliance was represented by leader Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane McMahon. Alliance had the advantage with 4 victories. Jericho had almost cost Team WWF the match because of his jealousy against Rock but WWF still managed to win when Angle turned on Alliance by hitting Austin with the WWF Championship belt which allowed Rock to pin Austin. As a result, Alliance was forced to disband and most of Alliance members were fired with the exception of those who were champions. Angle was revealed to be a planted mole in Alliance by Vince McMahon. Team WWF was victorious in the end.
The War against ECW (2005-2006)
John Cena vs. The Nexus / Reformation of Team WWE (2010)
This alliance was made up of wrestlers who were scheduled to face the Nexus in a 14-man elimination tag team match at SummerSlam.
Each member of the Nexus had originally been a rookie during the inaugural season of NXT. These men were Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Michael Tarver, Darren Young, Ryback and Daniel Bryan. On the Viewer's Choice edition of Raw, the group debuted during the main event between WWE Champion John Cena and CM Punk sporting matching armbands with the letter N. Barrett led the group in an attack on Cena, Punk, Luke Gallows, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker, Justin Roberts, and other WWE personnel around the ring, as well as destroying everything at ringside, including the announce table and the ring itself. During the attack, Daniel Bryan strangled ring announcer Justin Roberts with Roberts' necktie and also spit on Cena's face. This led to WWE releasing Bryan as they reportedly felt those acts were too violent for their TV-PG programming. His absence was explained by Barrett saying that Bryan had felt remorse for his actions and as a result was kicked out of the group.
A week later, the group explained their actions as retribution for the poor treatment they received from WWE management during their time on NXT. The attack was also to threaten WWE into giving the remaining seven members WWE contracts. Raw General Manager Bret Hart declined the demand and fired Barrett. When Hart then ordered the whole Raw roster to stand guard at the ringside and stage areas during the main event, Nexus attacked Hart backstage by forcing him into a limousine and crashing it into other vehicles.
At the Fatal 4-Way event, John Cena was scheduled to defend the WWE Championship against Edge, Randy Orton and Sheamus in a Fatal Four Way match. During the match, the Nexus would attack all four men, with Sheamus able to pin Cena to become WWE Champion during the commotion.
The group then spent the next few weeks attacking various WWE figures, such as Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat and other legends when they were celebrating Steamboat's DVD release following an edict that Nexus and the rest of the Raw roster could not engage in physical confrontation that week. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon subsequently removed Hart as general manager due to his injuries, and appointed a new general manager, who chose to remain anonymous (communicating only through e-mails quoted by "official spokesman" Michael Cole). The general manager immediately gave Nexus WWE contracts and reinstated Barrett's championship match opportunity. Barrett revealed that this group was going to form no matter who wound up winning NXT, stating that the seven of them had formed a "Nexus" and had a common goal they all fought to have accomplished. However, even after apologizing for their actions, Nexus continued their hostile attacks, including one on McMahon who tried to take credit for Nexus' actions.
On the July 5 edition of Raw, the anonymous general manager demanded Cena and Barrett call a truce later in the night. Cena refused and attempted to attack Barrett, which began a brawl between Nexus and most of the Raw locker room. After Cena would not stop assaulting Darren Young, the GM announced that Cena would face Nexus in a 7-on-1 handicap match the following week, which caused Cena to further attack Young. Young was removed from the match the following week due to his injuries, making the matchup a 6-on-1 handicap match, which Nexus won after the 450° splash of Justin Gabriel, who then pinned Cena.
At Money in the Bank, Nexus attempted to get involved in the WWE Championship match involving Sheamus and John Cena in a steel cage by breaking the door. However, the referee on the outside of the cage threw the key into the crowd and the tool that Tarver tried to use to break in. They then tried to climb up and get involved. However, Sheamus and Cena were able to hold them off and escape, with Sheamus winning. Afterwards, Cena began beating up Tarver and Young and then took Tarver's Nexus armband.
On the July 19 edition of Raw Nexus continued their attacks on the Raw roster by first attacking Edge and then Chris Jericho, after the two longtime rivals attempted to manipulate the group against each other. Later on in the show, Barrett defeated Mark Henry in a singles match. After that, Barrett and Nexus asked Cena to join them. Cena refused and said that he would take them all down at SummerSlam, and that he had found some help to do it. Cena revealed his team one by one; the members were Edge, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali, Chris Jericho and Bret Hart. The next week of Raw featured Nexus defeating Team Raw (Mark Henry, The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith), Jerry Lawler, Evan Bourne, Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu) in a 7-on-7 elimination tag team match with a clean sweep. Nexus later mocked Cena's team, who were arguing amongst themselves, saying that they'd have an easy victory at SummerSlam.
Following dissension on Cena's team in the next few weeks, Edge and Jericho left the SummerSlam match on the August 2 episode of Raw. They rejoined the following week, however, when The Nexus tried to attack the members of Team WWE and Edge and Jericho. On the same episode of Raw, Khali was attacked by The Nexus, removing him from the match at SummerSlam. The Miz offered his services to the team as Khali's substitute, ultimately saying he would reveal his final decision at SummerSlam itself. At the event The Miz would continue to tease the decision to become a part of the team, but when he finally chose to reveal his decision before the match itself, Cena told the Miz they couldn't wait any longer for his choice, and that Team WWE chose former Nexus member Daniel Bryan to substitute.
Before the match the two teams started to brawl in the ring. The start of the match first saw Team WWE on a roll as Daniel Bryan was able to eliminate Darren Young within the first minute by making him submit to the LeBell Lock and John Morrison eliminated Michael Tarver by pinning him after Starship Pain. However the Nexus would then start to dominate as Skip Sheffield consecutively eliminate R-Truth and John Morrison with a Running Iariat. Bret Hart would then get himself disqualified when Wade Barrett threw a steel chair into the ring and Hart retrieved it, hitting Sheffield with the chair and being ejected from the match. It would eventually take the combined efforts of Edge and Chris Jericho to finally eliminate Sheffield following a Codebreaker from Jericho and a Spear from Edge to pin him. Jericho would then eliminate David Otunga by making him submit to the Walls of Jericho.
With the match 4 vs 3, Heath Slater would then start to dominate the match himself by eliminating Jericho and Edge by himself as Team WWE were starting to show signs of dissension. Slater would first eliminate Jericho after throwing him into Cena and then hitting Jericho with Sweetness and after an argument between Edge and Cena over who would enter the ring, Slater would take advantage and pin Edge with a Schoolboy pin. Edge would then spear Cena off the ring side and both Edge and Jericho would attack Cena, leaving a weakened Cena to be dominated by the remaining Nexus members.
Cena was eventually able to tag in Bryan, who in turn eliminated Slater by making him submit to the LeBell Lock. However The Miz would then interfere with his Season 2 NXT Rookie Alex Riley and hit Bryan in the back of his head with his Money in the Bank briefcase. Barrett would then pin Bryan for the elimination.
This left John Cena to face Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel on his own, which would lead to the two double-teaming Cena. This would culminate in Barrett hitting a DDT to Cena on the concrete floor after the two men had removed the padding outside the ring. Despite this though, Barrett would throw Cena back in the ring where Gabriel would attempt to hit Cena with a 450° Splash, but Cena would roll out of the way, causing Gabriel to crash and Cena to pin and eliminate him. With the match now one on one, Cena was able to overpower Barrett and make him submit to the STF, giving Team WWE the victory. The following night on Raw saw each member being put into matches in order for Barrett to determine the "weakest link" of the Nexus, with each member being forced to defend their spot in the Nexus. Each member won their matches that night except for Darren Young, who was defeated by Cena. After the match the Nexus attacked Young, signalling his exile from the group.
After this match Team WWE wouldn't reform again, due to Edge and Jericho's dissension as well as the following event Night of Champions coming up, leading to qualifying matches to determine who would challenge Sheamus for the WWE Championship, seeing Edge defeat R-Truth and Jericho defeat The Great Khali. The match at Night of Champions would see Randy Orton defeat Sheamus, Wade Barrett, John Cena, Edge and Chris Jericho in a Six-Pack Challenge Elimination match to win the title. During the match, the Nexus attacked Cena, allowing Barrett to eliminate him.
Meanwhile Cena would continue his feud with the Nexus after facing Barrett in a match to determine the future of the Nexus at Hell in a Cell: If Cena won the Nexus had to disband, and if Barrett won Cena would have to join the Nexus, and if members of the Nexus interfered Cena would automatically win. The match saw the Nexus being attacked ringside by various WWE wrestlers, and Barrett winning the match after Cena was attacked by two masked men, who were later revealed to be Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris, forcing Cena to join the Nexus.
The following night on Raw, Cena and Tarver were forced to pair up in a tag team match, only for Cena to attack Tarver after the match. Barrett would then announce that he was going to get rid of Tarver anyway, thus signifying Tarver's banishment from the stable. Cena would announce his intention of eliminating the Nexus from within, however the Anonymous General Manager would then tell Cena he had to obey Barrett's orders or else be fired. Following a battle royal to determine the number one contender for Randy Orton's WWE Championship, during which Barrett and Cena were the final 2 and Barrett ordered Cena to eliminate himself, Barrett would challenge Orton for the championship at Bragging Rights, where Cena had to be at ringside for Barrett. At Bragging Rights the Nexus would capture their first championship, when Barrett forced Otunga and Cena to challenge Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which saw the Nexus get the victory. Later on in the same night, the group (aside from Cena) helped Kane defeat The Undertaker in his Buried Alive match, for reasons which were not explained. Meanwhile in the main event, Barrett would challenge Orton for the WWE Championship and announced he would personally fire Cena if he didn't win the match. Cena would then twist his words around during the match and attacked Barrett, giving Barrett the win by disqualification, but since championships don't change hands on a count-out or disqualification, Orton retained the title.
The following edition of Raw saw Gabriel and Slater win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Cena and Otunga after Barrett ordered Otunga to lie down and be pinned. Later that night he announced Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris as new members of the Nexus. Meanwhile due to his disqualification victory Barrett got a rematch for the title at Survivor Series. In the main event of that night Cena was put into a non-title match against Orton with the stipulations if Cena wins Barrett gets to choose the referee for his match against Orton, while if Orton won he could choose the referee. Cena would win the match after Barrett attacked him, causing Orton to get disqualified. Barrett would name Cena as the referee for the match.
On November 5 Otunga, who had been questioning Barrett's leadership in the past weeks, led Gabriel, Harris, McGillicutty and Slater to an invasion of SmackDown, interrupting a match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio. Nexus was then defeated in the main event of the show in a ten man tag team match by Edge, Del Rio, Big Show, Kane and Kofi Kingston.
At the event, Wade Barrett faced Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series in a Pinfall-and-Submissions-only match. Before the pay-per-view Barrett had announced that if he won the championship then Cena would be freed from the Nexus, but if Barrett lost he would fire Cena. The match saw Cena push Barrett into an RKO from Orton, and Orton would defeat Cena to retain the WWE Championship.
The following night on Raw saw Barrett fire Cena, although despite this Cena would continue to attack each member of the Nexus, knowing that since Nexus attacked the security upon their debut, Cena would be free to attack Nexus without any restraints, going as far as costing Gabriel and Slater the WWE Tag Team Championship and the championship being won by Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov following a Fatal Four Way Tag Team Elimination match. Wanting the attacks to stop, the Nexus threatened to eject leader Wade Barrett from the group if he did not get Cena rehired the following week. The following week at the Slammy Awards Barrett rehired Cena in exchange for a Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. During the night, Cena would attack members of the Nexus throughout the night. The feud between John Cena and Wade Barrett would finally end when Cena defeated Barrett at TLC.
Members
2001
*The Rock (Leader)
*Acolytes Protection Agency (Bradshaw and Faarooq)(Leaders of Locker Room)
*Albert
*Al Snow
*Big Show
*Billy Gunn
*Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane)
*Chris Jericho
*Christian*
*Chuck Palumbo**
*Crash Holly
*Edge
*Funaki
*Hardcore Holly
*Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy)
*Jacqueline
*Kurt Angle*
*Lita
*Mick Foley (WWF Commissioner)
*Molly Holly*
*Perry Saturn
*Scotty 2 Hotty
*Spike Dudley
*Stone Cold Steve Austin*
*Tajiri
*Tazz**
*Terri*
*Test*
*Torrie Wilson**
*Trish Stratus
*Vince McMahon
*William Regal* (WWF Commissioner. Defected to Alliance.)
*X-Pac
*Steve Blackman
*
Defected to The Alliance Alliance members who joined WWF
2005
*Eddie Guerrero
*Chris Jericho
*Kurt Angle
*Rhyno
*
*Eric Bischoff
*Edge
*Matt Morgan
*Carlito
*Maven
2006
*Rey Mysterio
*Mickie James
*Big Show
*Randy Orton
*Mick Foley
*Edge
*Mark Henry
*Carlito
*Shelton Benjamin
*Matt Hardy
*Finlay
*Bobby Lashley
*Tatanka
*John Cena
*Jerry Lawler
*Super Crazy
*Lita
2010
*John Cena(leader)
*The Great Khali
*Daniel Bryan
*Edge
*Chris Jericho
*Bret Hart
*John Morrison
*R-Truth
*The Miz
*The Undertaker
*Vince McMahon
*Mark Henry
*Jerry Lawler
*Evan Bourne
*William Regal
*Santino Marella
*Edge
*The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith)
*Randy Orton
*Drew McIntyre
*Cody Rhodes
*Big Show
*Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows)
*Vladimir Kozlov
*Goldust
*Yoshi Tatsu
*Sheamus
*WWE Legends (Ricky Steamboat, Michael Hayes, Arn Anderson, Mike Rotunda,
*Kaval
*Dolph Ziggler
*Montel Vontavious Porter
*Rey Mysterio
*Chris Masters
*Zack Ryder
*Darren Young)

Accomplishments

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See Also

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