Nexus announced that it was under "new management" and CM Punk later revealed that he was that new leader after Barrett was kicked out of Nexus for losing his match against Randy Orton and Sheamus. After CM Punk ordered Slater and Gabriel to hit each other with kendo swords for initiation, they refused and left Nexus to join Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson on SmackDown as The Corre. Mason Ryan joined Nexus after he interfered in a match between Punk and Cena. The feud between Cena and Nexus ended when Cena eliminated the members of Nexus in the Royal Rumble except Husky Harris who was eliminated by The Great Khali. Nexus cost Randy Orton his WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble and Orton would punt Harris in the skull on the following Raw after Harris and McGillicutty failed to win the Tag Team Championship from Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Orton would punt each member of Nexus over the weeks and removed them from in ring action. Orton was unable to punt Punk in the head after their match at WrestleMania XXVII which left Punk as the only active member of Nexus. The rest of the members of Nexus returned and cost Orton a shot at the WWE Championship. Orton was drafted to SmackDown during the WWE Draft and defeated Punk at Extreme Rules which ended the feud between Orton and Nexus. Ryan later left the group because of an injury. Nexus quietly disbanded on August 22, 2011.