6 Most controversial moments in SummerSlam history

#1. John Cena defeats Nexus at SummerSlam 2010

10 years ago today, August 15, 2010, was #SummerSlam! In the main event, Team WWE (John Cena,Daniel Bryan,Edge, Chris Jericho,Bret Hart,R-Truth & John Morrison) defeated Nexus (Wade Barrett,Justin Gabriel,Heath Slater, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver & Darren Young) pic.twitter.com/5GNTqilBFa

— William Wesley Elm (@Mr_WWE_2021) August 15, 2020

When it comes to backstage decisions made in SummerSlam history, few are more controversial than the Team WWE vs. Team Nexus match. Team WWE comprised of John Cena, Chris Jericho, Edge, Bret Hart, R-Truth, John Morrison and the returning Daniel Bryan, while Team Nexus was filled with the hottest new superstars in WWE.

The entire premise of the seven-on-seven Elimination match was supposed to be to establish The Nexus as the new dominant force of the promotion. By all means, that may have been the original plan for SummerSlam 2010 as well. But according to reports, it was Cena who had cold feet about it and changed the finish to him submitting leader Wade Barrett.

Today is the 10-year anniversary of the 2010 #Summerslam PPV. I was at the live show at Staples Center. The main event was quite controversial with John Cena's team emerging victorious over Nexus. #WWE pic.twitter.com/RZZ6eoayVb

— Aaron Rift of NoDQ.com 🌎 (@aaronrift) August 15, 2020

While John Cena has denied the accusations, the decision to have Team WWE beat Team Nexus at the pay-per-view was a highly controversial one. In an instant, it killed the momentum that the group had built so quickly and possibly stunted Barrett's potential as a singles star.

It still seems to be a baffling decision looking back at it and it is undoubtedly one of the most controversial moments in SummerSlam history.