Is WWE Botching the John Cena - Nexus Storyline?

There are a ton of reasons to like the angle the WWE is currently using as their main storyline. Having the top babyface of the promotion be forced to join the top heel stable is money, at least in theory. There's a lot of heat to go around and WWE has to harness that and make sure it's going to the right people and in the right direction. The problem is they haven't really done that. Couple of reasons.

1. They've booked the entire angle in a way that Cena has just gone over even further as a babyface. That's all well and good but they're doing it at the expense of Nexus. When you book a match at Bragging Rights that features Cena and David Otunga winning the Tag Team titles it should be done in a way to get Otunga over and make us take him seriously. I assure you, we're definitely not doing so now. Instead, they book him to look stupid and Cena does all the work and embarrasses him before walking off with the belts. Cena - over. Otunga - buried.
   
2. The utter and complete refusal to have Cena act even slightly like he is in the group by not having him wear the Nexus shirt. When the angle was first introduced, it was fresh and fans were excited. But we immediately didn't like the way they set the tone. Sure they brought Cena out and made him look humiliated and had him do a little speech. But when all they asked him to wear was that little Nexus armband it made it a bit of a joke. One of the reasons Nexus hasn't gone over nearly as well as they should have is merchandise sales. By all accounts the signature N T-shirt is selling poorly. What would be a perfect way to fix that? Make John Cena, the man who sells more merchandise than anyone else on the roster, wear it enough to make people want to buy it. But that bleeds into the next point.
   
3. WWE wants to have their cake and eat it too. They can't have it both ways, like they seem to think they can. The thought process that the Nexus gear would move easier with Cena attached to it is all well and good but I don't know anyone that wears armbands. Everyone I know, however, wears T-shirts. You see how the logic fails there? They don't want to lose out on sales for the goofy Cena shirts so they keep him wearing them while hoping his being seen on TV with the Nexus armband will help move that gear. Not only does it not help with that, it also undercuts the entire program they are trying to run. It just doesn't make sense on any level.
   
4. Set ups with no pay off. Remember a few weeks back on RAW when R-Truth sat down with Cena and told him he understood why he was doing what he was doing but the right thing for him to do would be to quit? Why not go further with that? And if there is no plan to go any further with it, why do that segment at all? I thought it was an interesting possibility and would make for a nice little twist on the whole saga. Cena is forced to do Barrett's bidding and alienates the entire RAW roster in the process. They get fed up with it and decide to do something about it and Cena is forced to make a choice. That had potential and they teased something along those lines but never went through with it. Instead they've done everything they can to get Randy Orton involved.
   

This angle can be salvaged and it's still mostly a good thing, despite all the problems within it. Officially adding Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris is a good start. However, they are already teasing Cena getting a way out of the angle by helping Barrett win the title. That may build intrigue short term but where does it end up long term? Remember, Cena has buried every other member of Nexus besides Barrett. None of them are over and with two new members, they need to be made to look better now more than ever. I suppose the attack on Undertaker at Bragging Rights will lead to something later and maybe they're headed towards that and away from Cena. The Survivor Series trailer doesn't give me much hope for the future though. Barrett telling me everything is part of a bigger picture that I'm too simple to understand would be a good thing if the WWE ever came through on a surprise and actually found a way to have it make sense. I'm not confident but I really hope they prove me wrong. This is the best thing they've had going in years. There is too much potential here for it to go to waste.