Ryback says a 'non-competitive' John Cena killed the chances of rising WWE talents

Ryback has said that John Cena killed the chances of The Nexus to become a big draw in the WWE as he did not like the idea about them "getting over naturally". The Nexus disbanded soon after they generated interest among fans following their assault on the 15-time World champion.

The former WWE star, who quit the WWE in August, appeared on the episode 16 of Conversation With the Big Guy and said that the Cena's "non-competitive" nature led to the death of The Nexus, which comprised of eight former NXT stars: Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Heath Slater, Ryback, Michael Tarver, Darren Young, David Otunga and Justin Gabriel.

"It [The Nexus] was not used properly mainly because of John Cena. F*****g marks, that's your headline for the F*****g week. And it's a fact across the board. Everybody knows it and he did not want that to go any further than what it was going to go passed because it was working, because it was eight guys getting over naturally. That's why. God forbid guys get over naturally," Ryback said. (Via WrestlingInc)

"That's what happens when you get a noncompetitive athlete in the top position who's not used to competing in real life. That's what happens."

Talking about The Nexus on the podcast, Ryback said he and his team mates were an "underutilized" faction.

"None of us know what's going to happen with our careers, but we know we're going to be a faction called The Nexus. And for a lot of the WWE Universe, a lot of fans, they loved it. It was a great faction and it was underutilized," Ryback said.

"[Wade Barrett] was the mental leader. I was the physical leader. I always kind of put it as that. Like, and I felt like that came across very well with the dynamic of the group that we had. And I felt like people got that. I felt like we both played our roles perfectly in that and that's why, a big part of why that all worked, along with everybody else that added their [contributions]. [Justin] Gabriel was the highflier and Gabriel was a huge part of it too, I feel and everybody was. Everybody had their role."