On the June 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.