Top Ten Cases: WWE 2010 Year-End Awards - Most Shocking Event of 2010

Realizing that I offered 10 categories for you to vote on for my Year-End Awards, I thought instead of revealing the results in one exceptionally long post, I'd draw it out over 10 days in the latest edition of Top Ten Cases. Today, I reveal my pick (and your vote) for the Most Shocking Event of 2010.

My Pick: NXT season one rookies form Nexus, dominate Raw
While I feel this pick has firmly cemented this designated, it wasn’t a gimme either. This past year has seen some rather unexpected and shocking things, most notably the apparent reconciliation of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. Did anybody think that would happen?

Nonetheless, even a moment that surreal paled in comparison to the notion that a group of eight rookies – virtually all of which casual fans had never heard of – would become the focal point of WWE’s flagship brand. These individuals were introduced to the WWE audience through NXT, the least watched program produced by WWE, and a show that didn’t even seem to be well planned out by the powers that be. How would these rookies be eliminated? What did these challenges represent? And were these challenges even tested to see how it would look in front of a live audience (like, for example, did anybody ask if these guys have the ability to chug soda?) And the one guy fans seemed to recognize, Bryan Danielson, was renamed, jobbed out, and promptly eliminated. It seemed like nothing about this show was thought out, and season two seemed like even more of a joke: Less star power from the Pros side (Zack Ryder? Mark Henry? Lay-Cool?) and ridiculous names from legitimate potential Superstars on the Rookies side (Husky Harris? Michael McGillicutty?) It seemed as if NXT may have been a failed experiment, and that only Barrett and Bryan would come out of it with any semblance of success. But for this group to emerge on Raw one night in June and go on to continue to dominate the show in some form or fashion to this day is not something anybody could have foreseen.

Along with that, the debut of the Nexus was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my 20 plus years of watching wrestling. These guys caused utter and complete chaos. They viciously attacked the announcers, cameramen, commentators, and all of the wrestlers regardless of their face/heel affiliation (in fact, the circumstances became so dire that CM Punk actually attempted to come to the rescue of his opponent at the time, John Cena). They then began dismantling the ring by removing the mats outside, the ropes surrounding the ring, and even tore off the ring canvas. Visually, it really felt like something we had never seen before.

Sure, the Nexus storyline hit a few roadblocks (they almost certainly should have won at SummerSlam), but they were constantly being pushed as a focal point on Raw, and they were almost always portrayed as being in the dominant position.

What you said – NXT season one rookies form Nexus, dominate Raw
Like I said, this wasn’t a gimme, per se. This was the overwhelming favorite, but mostly because no two people agreed on any of the other possibilities. As such, Bret Hart shaking HBK’s hand, The Miz winning the WWE Championship, and Michael Cole’s heel turn all received one vote as well. But overall, people were most shocked by the onslaught of the Nexus.


Check back tomorrow to find out the which Superstar is most likely to win the World title for the first time in 2011.