For years, critics of John Cena have claimed that the WWE icon has ‘buried’ talent, holding them back in favor of his own career. On the March 31, edition of WWE Raw, Cena argued that he doesn’t bury talent, but rather he chooses to bury mediocrity.
Cena’s comment has sparked a lot of discussion online. On X, Wade Barrett, who served as a commentator during Raw in London, shared his take on Cena’s rejection of the ‘burying’ claim. Barrett used a meme to signify that he wanted to say something but felt he could not.
When fans talk about Cena burying talent, Barrett’s name is one of the first that comes to mind. At WWE SummerSlam 2010, Barrett and the Nexus battled Team Cena, an all-star group including Cena, Chris Jericho, Edge, R-Truth, Bret Hart and the recently-rehired Daniel Bryan.
Edge and Jericho have gone on the record saying that the plan was for the Nexus to win, putting the group of ‘rookies’ over in a major moment. Shortly before the match though, Cena reportedly changed the finish and had himself go over as the last man standing. Speaking to Inside the Ropes recently, Nexus alum Heath Slater also claimed Cena changed the finish.
“[The Nexus was] tainted to the point that it’s not believable. We couldn’t get the steam back after SummerSlam.”
The Nexus’ defeat would hurt the group, and not even forcing Cena to join the faction later that same year could win back momentum. Within a year, the Nexus would be a thing of the past, leaving fans to wonder what could’ve been had John not ‘buried’ Wade and his allies.
