Team WWE Wins:Daniel Bryne Returns

LOS ANGELES - The name Daniel Bryan was a footnote, relegated to Internet message boards and obscure wrestling trivia. After all, the season one WWE NXT Rookie had been betrayed and attacked by his fellow Rookies – The Nexus – and remained forgotten in the wake of the group’s carnage. But now, Bryan is a man no one in WWE will ever forget. For it was he who joined Team WWE as their seventh man, helped dismantle The Nexus in an unforgettable 7-on-7 Elimination Tag Team Match and likely helped save Monday Night Raw.







As The Nexus have wreaked their particularly insidious strain of chaos, intimidation and ruthlessness on Raw, the group, including Wade Barrett, Skip Sheffield, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Darren Young, Heath Slater and Michael Tarver, appeared to be rushing toward total domination. The only roadblock? Team WWE and the determination of John Cena, Bret Hart, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison and R-Truth. While the WWE squad faltered and fragmented in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam, they nonetheless united around a single purpose: Break The Nexus.






Going into the night, Team WWE’s seventh man remained a mystery. The Miz was convinced it was he who would be tapped, which made him all the more apoplectic when Cena revealed that the seventh man was actually Bryan.






As the audience in the STAPLES Center roared their approval, Bryan took his place alongside his new teammates. Despite a shrewd strategy employed by The Nexus, the group simply could not overcome their veteran counterparts and the momentum accompanying Bryan (despite an attack on Bryan from The Miz during the match). With looks of shock and dismay, the members of The Nexus were humbled as, one-by-one, they found themselves eliminated from the bout until finally all seven were forced to admit defeat.






The victory proved vital for Team WWE, demonstrating that the myriad Superstars are capable of setting aside their differences in the pursuit of defending what they hold dear. And despite the bruising loss, it’s also safe to assume that the WWE Universe hasn’t heard the last of The Nexus – or one Daniel Bryan.