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Corre 4 Make Mark On Smackdown

Posted: Jan 23rd 2011 By: CMBurnham

WWE Superstar Wade Barrett can argue that he is the most influential performer in the company within the past 12 months. And it would be hard to deny this. Since winning the first season of NXT, Barrett put together the most dominant faction in recent memory, the Nexus. And over the summer, the Nexus swept across the WWE like a plague. They hospitalised WWE owner Vince McMahon. The forced John Cena into a role of servitude that lasted several months. And with their unity they proved that, even though they were rookies, they stood together against anything put towards them.

That unity was the key factor. And when that unity was fractured, thanks in part to Cena and also to the influence of C. M. Punk, Barrett soon found himself outside of Nexus. So like any good military general, he assessed the situation and enacted a strategic retreat. Knowing that he would be unable to survive on RAW without his backup, Barrett negotiated a deal to move to Smackdown. And as with his invasion of RAW, Barrett made an immediate impact on Friday nights by attacking the Big Show. Barrett had led the Nexus against the Big Show back in October when they had made a crossover appearance for Smackdown's debut on SyFy, but that was a one time thing. Now, Barrett was here permanently. And he wasn't alone.

Barrett challenged Big Show to a match and in the course of that confrontation revealed that he had some backup in place. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel, former members of the Nexus who had not wished to bow to the induction hazing of C. M. Punk for the New Nexus, arrived and attacked the giant superstar. But the real surprise was the arrival of Ezekiel Jackson. Jackson's coming to Smackdown was no surprise. It had been promoted in videos for several weeks. The surprise was his alliance with Barrett.

Barrett now had his army. He had taken out the biggest threat to their existence. And when Smackdown arrived in Tulsa this past Tuesday, Barrett and his charges confidently strode to the ring to officially announce their arrival. Barrett informed the crowd that the Big Show would not be present and then introduced himself and his fellow co-workers. He said that he had been the leader of the Nexus until he was summarily dismissed and that his mistake was making the Nexus all about him. It should have been about the entire group. That's what his new faction will be and he announced them as being "The Corre". Each member of the Corre briefly spoke, explaining why they were there and how the Corre was like family to them. Barret then bragged that his accomplishments with the Nexus would pale compared to what he will do with the Corre.

At that point, Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long arrived to stop them. He said he wasn't naive and there were thing that happened that he didn't like. He reminded them that HE was in charge of Smackdown and if they didn't agree with that, there was a problem. Barrett immediately tried to smooth talk the GM, saying that they respected him and thought he'd be happy to see them. He said they all want to work for Smackdown and revealed that all of them had been entered into the Royal Rumble, which he believed gave Smackdown a guarantee of winning that event. Long was not believing any of this and asked if they thought he was stupid. He knew they didn't intend to work with him. Barrett continued to try and convince him that the Corre were all equals, but Long said that he was not some chirping computer and he wanted nothing to do with this group. Last week, they ganged up on the Big Show. If they tried that again, it would be the last time.

Ezekial Jackson stepped up and said that he was disappointed that Long didn't welcome them. They could all work together to bring Smackdown to a new level. Long simply replied that, if they liked it, they could stay. If not, they could leave. But he made it clear that it was going to be under his orders. At that point, Long left, but almost immediately Alberto del Rio arrived and said he knew the Corre were new and wanted to welcome them to "his" show. As del Rio prepared for his match with R-Truth, the Corre went to the back without any further words.

Fans settled in to focus on the del Rio/Truth match, but after a few minutes of action, video came on the Titantron showing Long laying on the floor of his office unconscious and being tended to by paramedics. Dolph Ziggler & Assistant GM Vickie Guerrero were present and said they knew nothing about the incident. The Titantron went dark and focus went back on the match, but only a couple of minutes later, the screen showed the action in Long's office again. Long was on a gurney and Ziggler & Guerrero were being told that he would be taken care of. After del Rio won the match, the Titantron once more fired up, showing Long being loaded into an ambulance while several of the Smackdown stars looked on with concern.

After another match had passed, Ziggler & Guerrero were shown going into the office. Waiting for them were the Corre, but Justin Gabriel immediately made it clear that they had nothing to do with Long's head trauma and had only just heard about it. Barrett offered to assist Guerrero in any way she needed, but Guerrero said she had a "personal matter" to deal with and asked the group to leave.

It wasn't the last time the group would be seen as one of them was chosen to face WWE Smackdown World Champion Edge that night. Which member was still a mystery and all 4 members came to the ring while Edge waited. Before it could be revealed which member would take the challenge, Vickie Guerrero came out and announced that Dolph Ziggler would be at ringside serving as a guest commentator for the show. After everyone was in place, Justin Gabriel was the Corre member to step in and face the World champion. But it wasn't long before the rest of the Corre made their presence felt. Edge went for a Spear on Gabriel, but Barrett hopped up on the ring apron. Edge punched him off, then took out Heath Slater. But he didn't get to Ezekiel Jackson fast enough and Jackson levelled Edge with a clothesline which allowed Gabriel to score a HUGE upset pin on the champion. Immediately, the Corre pounced on Edge like starving dogs on a spare side of beef, culminating with Gabriel hitting his 450 Splash on the champion. Ziggler then stepped in the ring and brazenly put his foot on Edge's chest, signifying that he believed his World Title opportunity at the Royal Rumble would be successful and that Edge was already a beaten man.

Further information was revealed on the Smackdown broadcast this past Friday that Long had suffered what appeared to be severe trauma to the back of the head. No further information has been released and there are still no confirmed suspects in the attack. But all signs seem to point to the Corre being responsible in one way or another. Barrett's modus operandi is very clear and he seems intent on reproducing the success he had on RAW. With the Corre operating together, the Smackdown stars need to be very aware of the threat that exists within their shores. Otherwise, the brand's destruction may be at hand.