John Cena stopped faction's momentum after backstage meeting, ex-WWE star claims

John Cena was presented as one of WWE's top full-time babyfaces between the mid-2000s and mid-2010s. In a recent interview, former superstar of the Stamford-based promotion PJ Black recalled how The Nexus was never the same after SummerSlam 2010.

The event ended with John Cena's all-star team defeating the villainous group of rookies in a seven-on-seven Elimination Match. Team WWE members Chris Jericho and Edge wanted The Nexus to win. However, Cena allegedly convinced then-Chairman of the Stamford-based promotion Vince McMahon to change the finish.

Black, fka Justin Gabriel, was a member of The Nexus. During an appearance on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, he reminisced about the disappointing match outcome.

"Looking back, in hindsight, that was obviously the wrong decision," Black said. "It killed the whole momentum. John Cena was king of the world. He didn't need that win at all. Much later, I also heard that Jericho and Edge went to go talk to Vince, and he did switch his idea at the time, but then Cena went to go talk to him again and [the finish] switched back, so who knows really what happened there." [45:49 – 46:10]

Black was joined in The Nexus by Darren Young, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield (aka Ryback), and Wade Barrett.

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PJ Black's reaction to John Cena winning

Team WWE consisted of John Cena, Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Edge, John Morrison, and R-Truth.

Given the star power on the opposing team, PJ Black did not think his inexperienced faction had the right to complain about the finish backstage:

"We didn't know if you think something is right, maybe you speak up, or you go do this or pitch, whatever. We didn't have much power to do any of those things, so we didn't think it would make a difference if we went to go talk to them, so we kinda just sat back and did whatever they told us to do." [46:25 – 46:42]

The 36-minute match ended with Cena pinning Black before making Barrett submit to the STF. Over a decade later, many fans view the outcome as one of the worst in SummerSlam history.

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Please credit Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.