Former WWE Superstar David Otunga has shared new behind-the-scenes details about the formation of The New Nexus, revealing that he was initially slated to lead the group before plans abruptly changed in favor of CM Punk. Appearing on TMZ Inside The Ring, Otunga discussed how creative direction shifted mid-storyline, altering the course of the faction’s history.
“I told Wade Barrett on Raw, ‘You’re out, we voted you out,’ basically. And now, going into that, I was going to take over the Nexus. Everybody was excited,” Otunga recalled. “Literally, the next week, CM Punk comes out, and he’s our leader now. And so we’re like, ‘Wait, what? Why did we even have this storyline?’”
According to Otunga, the change was made to accommodate Punk’s return to TV and his need for a new stable. “From what I heard, Punk needed a new faction. I forget what his group was before with Gallows… he needed a new kind of thing like that, he was coming back, and so they gave him Nexus,” he said. “Initially, it was supposed to be my group, but he was like, ‘Oh, alright.’ And that’s why, at first, he didn’t even seem like he was really into it. It didn’t last all that long.”
Otunga also shared an amusing story from that era, recalling how Punk’s now-legendary “pipebomb” promo was so convincing that it even fooled his fellow Nexus members. “The night he did the pipe bomb promo, McGillicuddy and I, we’d been riding with him. He worked us,” Otunga said. “When he came back through the curtains, I legit went out to him. I was like, ‘Hey Punk, if I don’t see you again, it’s been real.’ And he laughed… he’s like, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ But he worked us. I thought he legit was getting fired.”
CM Punk officially became the leader of The New Nexus in December 2010, after the faction ousted original leader Wade Barrett. The group feuded with Randy Orton leading up to WrestleMania 27 before disbanding later that year — marking another unpredictable chapter in one of WWE’s most chaotic faction storylines.
