Quick Links
One of the most baffling booking decisions within WWE's tag team division would come in early 2015. Following a monster-like run in WWE's developmental system, NXT, the tag-team named The Ascension, made up of Konnor and Viktor, would be called up to the main roster as a hot new act for the company's tag team scene. While there was a ton of hype behind the most dominant force in NXT's tag team division, the duo's stock would plummet almost immediately after debuting. Thanks to being humiliated by legends and their booking being shot in the foot, The Ascension were buried for the entirety of their run in the company, from 2015 to 2019.
RELATED: The Acension & 12 Other Tag Teams WWE Ruined With Bad Booking
The Ascension Dominated The NXT Tag Team Division
The Ascension first debuted in NXT in 2011, originally working as a full faction in FCW. The original lineup saw Kenneth Cameron, Conor O'Brian, Tito Colon, and Raquel Diaz representing the group in WWE's developmental promotion. Over the next few years, names would come and go before fans were treated to the most famous version of The Ascension. In 2013, Connor O'Brian was renamed Konnor, with Viktor debuting as his new tag-team partner. The two men revived the dead faction's name into their new tag team name, as they set out to decimate, destroy, and dominate the NXT tag team division.
That same year, The Ascension won their sole championship during their time in WWE, defeating Adrian Neville and Corey Graves to become NXT Tag Team Champions. Over the next year, the duo would complete their mission, destroying any team placed before them, as they defended and defeated teams such as Neville and Graves, Too Cool, El Local and Kalisto, and Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd. Konnor and Viktor would lay waste to the division, wrecking all teams in their path as they became one of the most-talked about, hyped new acts in WWE's developmental system, with many seeing them as the future face of WWE's main roster tag team division.
RELATED: The 10 Longest Reigning NXT Tag Team Champions, Ranked By Length
The Ascension Were Called Up To WWE's Main Roster With Tons Of Hype Behind Them
With their reign coming to a close at NXT Takeover: REvolution in late 2014, The Ascension lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to the forgotten team of Kalisto and Sin Cara, The Lucha Dragons. Following a historic 364-day-long reign as the NXT Tag Team Champions, Konnor and Viktor of The Ascension would be called up to the main roster, with vignettes teasing the arrival of the unit on the SmackDown episode following Takeover. Arriving on the main roster at the very end of 2014, The Ascension laid waste to The Miz and Damien Sandow in their debut match, setting the stage for a big run in the tag division that would never come for the team.
RELATED: Tegan Nox & 9 NXT Call-Ups Who Barely Did Anything On WWE's Main Roster Before Being Released
Konnor & Viktor Would Be Buried Immediately And Never Recovered
Out of the gates, The Ascension would seemingly begin a strong push on the main roster, being given squash matches for their first few weeks. Things went downhill following a promo where Konnor and Viktor would claim that they were the best tag team in history, running down past legends in the process. This would lead to an infamous segment where The Ascension were beat up by The New Age Outlaws and The APA, being made to look like chumps by old-school stars. The duo did defeat the New Age Outlaws on PPV, but failed to ever get a push in the company again, consistently being used as jobbers over the next several years.
Over the years, The Ascension wandered the undercard of WWE, with their peak hitting in 2017 as comedic jobbers taking part in The Fashion Files vignettes with Tyler Breeze and Fandango. Prior to Cody Rhodes' exit from WWE, the duo also found themselves in a brief stint teaming alongside Stardust, known as The Cosmic Wasteland. Somehow, The Ascension would remain within WWE until 2019 when both Konnor and Viktor were released, with a near 8-month absence from television coming before that. This release marked the end of a near 10-year career for the tag-team in the WWE system, with it ending unceremoniously.
