The Corre[1] was a short-lived villainous stable in WWE.[2] Formed in 2011, the group was a spinoff of Wade Barrett's former group The Nexus.[2] The stable was formed after Barrett left The Nexus and aligned himself with Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, both of whom were also Nexus members, while Ezekiel Jackson rounded out the group.

The Corre
Stable
MembersWade Barrett
Justin Gabriel
Heath Slater
Ezekiel Jackson
DebutJanuary 14, 2011
DisbandedJune 10, 2011
Years active2011

History edit

Formation edit

After Wade Barrett was kicked out of The Nexus by new leader CM Punk,[3] he moved from Raw to SmackDown.[4] While under CM Punk, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel refused to perform their initiation to stay in the group and left The Nexus.[5] On the January 14 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater interfered during Barrett's match with Big Show, attacking Show. They were joined by Ezekiel Jackson who continued the attack by performing a body slam on Big Show.[6] Big Show continued to feud with the group throughout its existence and on the January 21 episode of SmackDown, the group named themselves The Corre, while also announcing that The Corre would be leaderless as all the members were equals.[7][8] They all competed in the Royal Rumble on January 30, but were all eliminated by different wrestlers (in order: Gabriel by Daniel Bryan, Slater by John Cena, Jackson by Kane, and Barrett by Randy Orton) with Jackson eliminating Big Show and Barrett eliminating Rey Mysterio and Diesel, and making it to the final four.[9]

Championship wins edit

Throughout its tenure, the Corre often employed interference during matches and frequent post-match attacks.[1] Tensions between the members of The Corre and The Nexus led to two brawls between the groups on Raw and before the Royal Rumble match.[1] At Elimination Chamber on February 20, Gabriel and Slater became the first to gain a championship within The Corre, as they won the WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.[10] This began Gabriel and Slater's second reign as WWE Tag Team Champions after their first reign as part of The Nexus.[11] At the same event, Barrett received his first opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship when he took part in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, but failed to win the championship when being eliminated by The Corre's nemesis, Big Show.[12] The following night on Raw, Gabriel and Slater lost the championship to John Cena and WWE Champion The Miz.[13] However, Gabriel and Slater immediately invoked their rematch clause and won the rematch and the championship to start their third reign as WWE Tag Team Champions.[14] On the March 25 episode of SmackDown, Barrett added to The Corre another championship when he defeated Kofi Kingston to win his first singles title, the Intercontinental Championship.[15]

Downturn and breakup edit

 
The four members of The Corre attacking John Cena and The Rock

Things took a turn for the worse for The Corre when the group was soundly beaten at WrestleMania XXVII in an eight-man tag team match against Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston, and Santino Marella in under two minutes.[16] The following night on Raw, hoping to make a statement, The Corre attacked John Cena and The Rock, but the duo overwhelmed them.[17] On the April 22 episode of SmackDown, The Corre endured further misery when Big Show and Kane won the championship from Gabriel and Slater.[18] The Corre failed to regain the tag team titles despite Gabriel and Slater, as well as Barrett and Jackson challenging Big Show and Kane on the April 29 episode of SmackDown and at Extreme Rules on May 1, respectively.[19] Tensions within the group began to flare due to failed interference in each other's matches.[20] On the May 6 episode of SmackDown, Jackson refused to celebrate with the rest of The Corre when he defeated Big Show, instead choosing to walk out on them after his match, thus leading to Barrett, Gabriel and Slater attacking him backstage and removing him from the group.[21] This started a feud between Barrett and Jackson, who challenged Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship twice, but failed to win the title since he won the bouts on May 22 at Over the Limit by disqualification and on the June 3 episode of SmackDown by countout instead of a pinfall or a submission.[22] On the June 10 episode of SmackDown, Barrett, fleeing from Jackson, walked out on Gabriel and Slater in a six-man tag team match against Jackson and The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso), leaving them handicapped and causing them to lose the match, after which Gabriel and Slater confronted Barrett and declared the dissolution of the faction.[23]

Championships and accomplishments edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Online World of Wrestling Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "CageMatch Profile" (in German). CageMatch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  3. ^ Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 1/3: Complete "virtual time" coverage on wasef live Raw - Miz vs. Morrison WWE Title match to start 2011". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  4. ^ Caldwell, James (January 5, 2011). "WWE News: Smackdown Spoilers – four big developments at Tuesday's TV taping for Friday's first episode of 2011". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  5. ^ Plummer, Dale (January 10, 2011). "Raw: CM Punk thins out the ranks". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  6. ^ Tedesco, Mike. "Smackdown Results - 1/14/11". Wrestleview. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  7. ^ Hillhouse, Dave. "Smackdown: Run, Edge, run!". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  8. ^ Cupach, Michael. "WWE Smackdown Report 1/21: Cupach's debut alt. perspective review of Edge vs. Gabriel, Miz on Smackdown, Rumble hype". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  9. ^ Keller, Wade (January 30, 2011). "Keller's WWE Royal Rumble results 1/30: Ongoing coverage of Biggest Royal Rumble Ever and Three Title Matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  10. ^ "WWE Elimination Chamber live coverage from Oakland". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  11. ^ "Slater & Gabriel's second reign". WWE. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  12. ^ Hillhouse, Dave (February 20, 2011). "Elimination Chamber mostly eliminates dramatic intrigue". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  13. ^ Plummer, Dale (2011-02-22). "Raw: Triple H crashes Undertaker's return". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Slater & Gabriel's third reign". WWE. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  15. ^ "History of the Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett". World Wrestling Entertainment. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  16. ^ "WrestleMania 27 live coverage from the Georgia Dome". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  17. ^ Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 4/4: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live Raw - The Rock & Austin live, fall-out from WrestleMania 27, Sin Cara debuts". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  18. ^ Parks, Gref. "Parks' WWE Smackdown Report 4/22: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Alberto Del Rio's retirement party for Edge". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  19. ^ "CageMatch Kane and Big Show's matches" (in German). CageMatch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  20. ^ Parks, Greg. "Parks' WWE Smackdown Report 4/22: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Alberto Del Rio's retirement party for Edge". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  21. ^ Hillhouse, Dave (May 7, 2011). "Smackdown: Peeps have a say". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  22. ^ "Wade Barrett's matches against Ezekiel Jackson" (in German). CageMatch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  23. ^ Parks, Greg. "Parks' WWE Smackdown Report 6/10: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including follow-up to Christian's turn on Orton". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 3, 2011.