People talk of disastrous post-NXT careers and usually point to the likes of Apollo Crews, The Vaudevillians and even former NXT champion, Sami Zayn. Even though booking has been pretty tough on these guys, none can be as downright criminal as The Ascension’s. Konnor and Viktor became one of the most impressive acts on NXT TV back in 2014/15, holding the NXT Tag Championships for almost a year before dropping them to The Lucha Dragons. They played the role of the imposing brutes well and seemed to be set for a pivotal role in shaking up the tag division on the main roster. So how did it all go downhill?
Vince took one look at the two and noticed something very similar to some of his favourite tag gimmicks from the 90s. The Ascension lost their unique, gothic aesthetic and were told to channel their inner Legion of Doom to become a throwback to the hoss teams of old. Now this wasn’t necessarily the catalyst of their downfall, in fact the throwback gimmick could indeed have a place if it weren’t buried by JBL and pals. After weeks of tedious squash matches against unknown local talent, The Ascension found themselves sharing a ring with some of wrestling’s most iconic tag teams – The NWO, The New Age Outlaws and The APA. Lets just say it didn’t go too well for the former NXT tag champions. Usually, a popular duo from the past would return to put over the newer generation, but in this case it was a total burial. Why exactly did Konnor and Viktor incur the wrath of the old guard? Well, it was all over The Ascension claiming that they were something different from all of them, something better – how dare they try to stand out from tag teams of yore.
Even though The Ascension managed to pull off a victory at Royal Rumble 2015, they soon fell into obscurity, on the losing end of the majority of multi-man tag matches and never truly reaching the top of the division. More call-ups soon forced the two down into the role of enhancement workers and despite a small resurgence as part of ‘The Cosmic Wasteland’ with Stardust, they were never given anything substantial to work with. Konnor and Viktor soon became a regular curtain-jerker on episodes of Main Event and Superstars, often jobbing to popular undercard acts like Zack Ryder, Mark Henry and The Prime Time Players.
The brand split saw The Ascension being one of the final draft picks for Smackdown Live; considering that Shane and Daniel Bryan were promoting opportunity for all within their new blue brand, things were potentially looking good for The Ascension. But this wasn’t to be. The two remained in their constant state of looking terrible in the ring. That was until a rather sudden underdogs rise back at Elimination Chamber, where it almost seemed like they might have had a chance at defeating American Alpha for the SD Tag Championships. My sense of optimism was crushed in minutes, but it was still nice to see the two given a chance to shine on PPV.
Currently, The Ascension are regular sidekicks to Tyler Breeze and Fandango in the ever-popular Fashion Files. Could this perhaps be a chance for The Ascension to ascend once again? I’d say that Konnor and Viktor share the same comedic value as what Breezango do, and if the rise of the New Day is anything to go by, silliness can go a long way for a tag team in this generation. The Fashion Files is purely a vehicle to serve Breeze and Dango, getting them over in a way which I personally am so happy to see, but should The Ascension share in the same limelight then I can only see similar reactions being granted to them.
Vince McMahon is apparently quite high on The Fashion Files, so perhaps the demonic duo could see themselves being given an extra opportunity or two to look good on the main roster. I suspect they’ll be jobbing to The Bludgeon Brothers a few times upon their debut, but should they be given more than just the standard 5 minutes then hopefully Viktor and Konnor could bounce off their opponents and put on an impressive tag match.
The Ascension have talent, a throwback hoss style which has the potential to gel well with some of the other tag teams on the roster. It’s just a shame that they’ve been made to hide behind some terrible booking and a glass ceiling which has yet to be smashed through. I for one hope that one day they’ll manage to be taken seriously again. In the meantime, I’ll be that one guy who goes to live events wearing an Ascension tee.
#ResurrectTheAscension
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