Former Nexus member turned down WWE return twice

The pandemic era was one of the most unprecedented times in WWE history. Former Nexus member Heath Slater was among those who lost their jobs due to budget cuts.

He recently opened up about his one-off return to the Stamford-based promotion and who talked him into it.

Heath Slater couldn't become a main event-level star, but he had a 14-year stint in WWE, winning the Tag Team Championship four times and the 24/7 title once. He was also part of some short-lived factions, such as 3 MB and Nexus.

The 41-year-old star parted ways with WWE on April 15, 2020. However, he briefly returned to RAW on July 6 that year while still under the 90-day non-compete clause.

Heath Slater confronted then-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and went on to have a match with his best friend, which the Scotsman won.

In an interview with Lucha Libre Online, Slater stated that WWE reached out to him twice after his release, but he rejected their offer on both occasions.

"It was one of those things where when that spot happened, I was literally, nearly almost done with my firing, my 90 days, you know. So like a writer calls me and he's like, 'Hey, bud, I got an idea for you on RAW this and that...It's with Drew [McIntyre] and Dolph [Ziggler] and I just said, No. I said, No man. I said y'all fired me. What are you gonna do, fire me again? I don't want to do it.' So I hung up...Then I got another call from another writer. I forget his name, but he tried to pitch me the same thing. And I literally said, 'You know, I'm not interested. I don't want to do it, no,'" Slater said.

Heath Slater revealed that Drew McIntyre then tried to convince him, but he turned him down too. The former Nexus member eventually agreed to do the favor after having a "heart-to-heart" conversation with his friend.

"So then McIntyre calls me, and Drew is just like, 'Hey mate. come on, mate.' He's literally like, 'Hey dude, listen up...think about this. You can come up here. You can either one, knock the home run and get your job back. Two, knock the home run and go off on the indies knowing that you came in, you had a promo with the champ'...And then I told Drew, no, I was like, 'Drew, but I don't want to do it.' He literally just took a deep breath and was like, 'Okay.' And then next thing, you know, the next day, he calls me again, and I'm just like, Drew! He's like, 'Just hear me out, bro.' He pretty much, we had a heart-to-heart. We talk like we, you know, usually do like brothers. So I agreed to it. I said, 'Brother. Okay, who cares? Let's do it.'" [24:20 - 26:16]

Check out the full interview below:

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Will Heath Slater return to WWE anytime soon?

Heath Slater is currently working on the independent scene and has expressed his desire to re-form the Nexus in WWE. It's worth noting that he has been a free agent since leaving IMPACT Wrestling in late 2023.

He isn't the only one, as Justin Gabriel, Tarver, and Darren Young also don't have any contracts. Slater recently revealed that he has been pushing for Triple H to bring back the Nexus for one last run.

The Nexus nearly returned to WWE during WrestleMania 36, but the idea fell through due to the pandemic. Will Wade Barrett get back with his boys in the future? Only time will tell.

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If you use quotes from this article, please credit the Lucha Libre Online and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for transcription.