7 episode of Raw, Slater and the other season one NXT rookies established themselves as heels by interfering in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, Jerry Lawler and Justin Roberts before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. On the June 14 episode of Raw, the rookies (sans Daniel Bryan, who had been released from his contract) attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, the seven rookies interfered in the WWE Championship match, and as a result costing Cena the championship to Sheamus. The following week on Raw, Vince McMahon fired Hart and installed the Anonymous General Manager, who signed the seven season one NXT rookies to contracts. The following week, the group was named The Nexus. On the July 12 episode of Raw, The Nexus competed in their first match together, without Darren Young, a six–on–one handicap match against John Cena, which they won when Gabriel pinned Cena. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Slater eliminated both Chris Jericho and Edge but was eliminated from the match by Daniel Bryan, with Team Cena winning the match. In October 2010, Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell and at Bragging Rights, Cena and David Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Barrett made a tag team match, with Gabriel and Slater facing Otunga and Cena for the championship. Gabriel and Slater won when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him, winning the title. Gabriel and Slater held the title for nearly two months, before losing it to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a four-way elimination match also involving The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu on the December 6 episode of Raw. Gabriel and Slater received a championship rematch at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Michael McGillicutty interfered. On the January 10, 2011, episode of Raw, Gabriel and Slater refused to take part in new Nexus leader CM Punk's initiation and walked away from the group. The following day, at the January 11 taping of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater helped their former leader Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson