Former WWE champion blames John Cena for last-minute changes in a controversial match

John Cena is arguably one of the most decorated stars in WWE history. However, the 16-time World Champion has often been criticized for pushing too hard in the wrestling promotion.

In one of his most infamous rivalries, The Cenation Leader took down one of the most promising factions, The Nexus. The heel group featuring former NXT stars took the main roster by storm before they were handed their first major loss by Team WWE, led by John Cena, in a seven-on-seven tag team match at SummerSlam 2010. Former Nexus member Heath Slater recently spoke about the controversial loss.

In a recent conversation with Kenny McIntosh for Issue 55 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, Slater noted it was great to be on the show. However, he added that the loss was disappointing. The former WWE 24/7 Champion stated they were initially booked to win the bout before a last-minute change was made.

"It was amazing being a part of SummerSlam, being the main event, and being in a hot story of that size." Slater added, "The outcome sucked. Because one, when we first got there, we were going over the match finish, and we’re going over. So we were like, oh cr*p, we’re taking over. Literally, it was like an hour after doors opened, maybe, everything got changed. We’re not winning any more, we’re losing, and we’re all just like, that makes no sense. Why would we [lose]?"

Heath Slater opined that Nexus winning the bout would have made perfect sense. However, John Cena "taking to bat for himself" might have sealed the deal in the end.

"You would think they would let us have WWE in jeopardy, move on. Here comes ‘Mania. Get your supergroup, your Avengers, have them come in and beat us, as easy as that. But I tell the story as if we had a rocket ship between our legs headed to the moon, and before we landed we ran out of gas. That took the wind out of our sails. There was Cena pretty much taking to bat for himself and next thing you knew, everything got changed," he added. [H/T: Inside The Ropes Wrestling]

Heath Slater believes Nexus never recovered from their loss to Team John Cena at SummerSlam

Later, in the same interview with Kenny McIntosh for Issue 55 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, Heath Slater noted that John Cena's securing the win at The Biggest Party of The Summer against all odds weakened The Nexus to a point beyond recovery.

"I get you want to be Superman, but this story is great and now it’s watered down and tainted to the point that it’s not believable. We couldn’t get the steam back after SummerSlam," he said.

Heath Slater was released from his WWE contract in April 2020. Following his departure from the company, the former SmackDown Tag Team Champion returned to the independent circuit before he signed with TNA in July 2020. However, he left the promotion three years later.