The 7-on-7 elimination main-event of Sunday’s WWE Summerslam was surprising for a number of reasons, one of which included the WWE return of Bryan “Daniel Bryan” Danielson.
The released NXT alumnus returned as the seventh member of Team WWE and made a big impact for the ‘good guys,’ eliminating two Nexus wrestlers and almost lasting until the conclusion of the match.
Bryan’s return, which was reportedly spoiled prior to the main event on WWE.com, came at the storyline expense of The Miz, who, per John Cena, had waited too long to confirm his intentions to join Team WWE. Cena said that the team could not wait until Summerslam Sunday to learn whether or not Miz would join the team and instead found someone who shared the group’s hatred of Nexus.
Angered by the news, The Miz interfered at Team WWE’s expense late in the match, attacking Bryan from behind when the count was two Team WWE wrestlers and two Nexus wrestlers. That allowed Nexus to eliminate Bryan, leaving Cena as the sole competitor against Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel. Cena nonetheless went on to win the match for Team WWE.
As surprising as Bryan’s return was the fact that Nexus did not receive a new ‘ally.’ While Chris Jericho and Edge turned on Cena following their eliminations, there was no indication that they supported the Nexus group–only that they were going heel on Cena.
