Weakest link banished

Each of The Nexus members faced Team WWE members in singles competition on Monday Night Raw.

One night on from tapping out to Cena SummerSlam, Nexus leader Wade Barrett attempted to spin the crushing defeat into a rallying cry, insisting the group simply had to weed out any weaknesses.

Cena then jokingly confronted Barrett about his squad's performance on Sunday, which angered the band of outlaws further. With their pride wounded, members of The Nexus began to turn on each other, assigning blame for the defeat.

The war of words escalated until RAW's anonymous General Manager e-mailed in to announce that each member of The Nexus would face a member of Team WWE in singles competition, beginning with Barrett facing his former WWE Pro, Chris Jericho.

For the members of The Nexus, the singles matches gave them an opportunity to eek out any weak links. All seven then agreed, that any member who did not win their match would be banished from The Nexus.

In arguably his most impressive victory to date, The leader of The Nexus motivated his troops by defeating his former WWE Pro Chris Jericho in convincing fashion.

Animosity

Then, fresh from his surprise return at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan appeared determined to level his opponent, Nexus masked man Michael Tarver. But interference from United States Champion The Miz led to Tarver securing the all-important pinfall.

The Miz, along with his NXT Rookie Alex Riley, then drove Bryan's head into the Money in the Bank briefcase.

South African, Justin Gabriel, was scheduled to compete against Bret Hart but RAW's anonymous GM had other ideas. Citing a mysterious animosity toward The "Hit Man," the GM instead arranged for a new opponent, Randy Orton.

The Viper appeared to have Gabriel under control when WWE Champion Sheamus paid an unannounced visit. The Irishman, who had lost by disqualification to Orton the night before, clashed outside the ring with his SummerSlam rival, handing Gabriel the win by count-out.

The loss did not go down well with Orton, who slithered back into the ring to RKO Gabriel. Outside the squared circle, Orton then executed an unrelenting counter-attack on Sheamus, who received several lashes from a steel chair followed by an RKO for good measure.

David Otunga and Skip Sheffield faced Team WWE's John Morrison and R-Truth in tag team action. Otunga and Sheffield capitalised on their size and strength advantage to pull apart their opponents and retain their positions within The Nexus.

Heath Slater faced a stern test as he squared off against The Rated-R Superstar Edge. An exciting bout where the action spilled out of the ring.

As the referee counted to ten, it was Slater who finally managed to dart back into the squared circle to avoid the count-out whilst his opponent seethed on the outside in defeat before nailing Slater with a Spear.

A perfect record then hung heavy on the shoulders of Darren Young. Each of his team-mates from The Nexus had been victorious in their matches against Team WWE members.

Now it was his turn. His obstacle, however, would prove to be the toughest test of them all, John Cena.

If Young were to lose, he would be banished from The Nexus. With that in mind, Monday Night's main event underwent a series of momentum shifts until, finally, Cena gained control. The force of such a powerhouse was too much for Young to bear as he eventually suffered defeat.

In the aftermath, The Nexus approached the ring. Although Cena prepared himself for the worst, his tormentors allowed him to leave The Staples Center unharmed. Instead, they circled their true target, Darren Young. After punishing their only failed member, the remaining six members of The Nexus stood tall.

Coming Up

Just three weeks remain until the season two finale of WWE NXT. Do not miss this week's poll results which will feature a double elimination! Find out which two Rookies are going home, this Thursday Night at 1am on Sky Sports HD4.

After tombstoning his own brother in the ring at SummerSlam, what will happen this Friday on SmackDown, now that The Deadman has risen once more and The Brothers of Destruction appear to be no more? WWE SmackDown airs this Friday Night at 10.30pm on Sky Sports HD2.

WWE RAW returns next Monday Night at 2am on Sky Sports HD3.