And They Won't Die Young

Reports say Wade Barrett is missing due to issues with his work visa. If you cannot tell, the guy is from Great Britain. The leader of Nexus, the winner of NXT1, is out of the picture, at least for the moment. That is a heart-breaker.

I said that the WWE did not need Daniel Bryan to have that NXT angle work. I stand by that. He was not the winner of the competition. He was doing more to make himself stand out in the initial attack than the WWE would have intended. Wade Barret was the one meant to stand out. He had his contract. Bryan and the other losers were all in the same boat. Barrett, who also had a title shot coming up sooner or later, was the one that the WWE had to build as a leader so they can credibly put him against a World Champion. Point is, Barrett was the one that mattered the most in this angle. Without him, what do you have?

And then there were 6. Who is the leader of the group? The group does need a leader. They cannot stay a unit forever. When they break up, the WWE must have invested more in some than in others. That is how they will get certain of them over more in relation to the rest. That is how they will build momentum in the ones they plan to really push. If the WWE just pushes them equally, who are the fans really supposed to latch on to? The black one? The sexy guy? The dude who does the cool flips? Even if that is how it works, the popular member may not have the momentum for a good push after the group if all are pushed evenly now. Moreover, they need someone to really give the group directionality and focus. Without it, they just seem even more mindless, which begs the issue that someone else has to be pulling their strings.

Who steps up? Assuming Barrett, who I liked as leader, is written out, that leaves 6 men. Otunga finished in 2nd place. He would be an obvious choice. Heath Slater looked like he could step up on Monday. Honestly, whatever they choose, the angle seems damaged now. They started with 8, did not lose much momentum at all after Daniel Bryan was released, but now lose their leader and the man who had the most credibility to gain, and had to gain, from being in front of a group like this. Sad. The chosen ones have dropped. Soon there may be only one left. Speaking of all that, how's Drew doing?