On a day where WWE announced the releases of Sin Cara and Luke Harper, the company has added The Ascension to that list of talent being let go.
The Ascension consisted of Viktor (Eric Thompson) and Konnor (Ryan Parmeter).
Parmeter was first signed by WWE in 2005 and wrestled at Deep South and FCW before leaving the company in 2007. He came back to the company in 2010 and re-joined FCW.
Viktor, 39, has been wrestling since 1999 and signed with WWE in 2011. He wrestled as Rick Victor in FCW where he became FCW heavyweight champion twice. In May 2012, he defeated Seth Rollins for the title at a live event and lost it the same night to Bo Dallas. He won it a second time in July from Dallas and held it for a week before losing to Richie Steamboat. He also won the FCW tag titles with Brad Maddox in July 2012 before the titles were deactivated and the company was re-branded to NXT.
The Ascension began as a stable with Parmeter wrestling as Conor OāBrian. OāBrian teamed with Kenneth Cameron until the latter was released in 2012 and OāBrian was paired with Viktor as his new teammate. The two won the NXT tag titles in September 2013 and held them for a year losing to the Lucha Dragons in September 2014.
This was the time they were brought up the main roster in September 2014 but were presented as an undercard tag team from the jump. In 2017, they were featured in āThe Fashion Filesā on a regular basis with Tyler Breeze and Fandango.
Man, maybe Iām crazy, but I thought these guys couldāve been so much more. They got called up and work quickly Jobbing. At least they got paid for like a decade I guess.
I was never a fan of the whole gimmick, going back in the early days of the Ascension, consisting of Conor OāBrian (Konnor), Kenneth Cameron (Bram/Thomas Latimer), Epico, Raquel Diaz (Shaul Guerrero), and even Ricardo Rodriguez briefly. I think the only time I liked them when they were paired with Breezango as sort-of friends, which I donāt remember leading to any matches.
Viktor was a guy I was more familiar with prior to the Ascension. Heās Canadian, and Iāve seen him come down to ROH a couple times in 2006 under the name Apocalypse. He had a match with Samoa Joe, and I remember Daniel Bryan speaking highly of him in an interview at the time. Some time later, he joined Derby City Wrestling, a sub-division of OVW for the newest names brought in.
I think your crazy. NXT did a great job (as they still do) of hiding weaknesses and emphasizing strengths of their talent on TV. The Ascensionās āGoldbergā style domination of the tag-team division in early NXT was fun. And it worked because it hid the fact that it was otherwise a boring tag-team with no promo skills.
But it was always obvious they would be exposed on the main roster. Thatās why some complain that NXT has always been pointless because it doesnāt prepare people for the main roster. When instead I watch NXT because it uses their talent correctly and ignore the main roster where they donāt use anyone right no matter how talented they are.
yup NXT is good for NXT but I have long thought that its existence is actually detrimental to the āmain rosterā. Not as much because it doesnāt prepare people per say, but rather that it sets a bar about what people expect for performers based on what they did in NXT and then they disappoint on the main roster because they are not used the same way, seen as lesser etc. in order of NXT to truly work āas intendedā WWE needed to clearly establish it as lesser, have a thriving mid card, and establish long term booking rather than the quick pass fail method they have conditioned people for. I think it is especially difficult for more dominant NXT acts to move up, because it is unlikely they continue to dominate
Iām not a āwrestlers need to be a certain sizeā guyā¦ but once the Ascension was on the main roster, they were just too small for their gimmick/style. Their last five programs in NXT were with Balor/Itami, Enzo/Cass, Vaudevillans, Lucha Dragons and Blake/Murphy. Other than Big Cass, those are all smaller guys. Now hereās their Raw debut against Miz and Mizdow, not exactly two of the noted giants of WWE, and I just see four dudes with nary a monster tag team in sight.
That is a general problem on NXT bs the main roster. It is very shocking when you see ābigā NXT guys on the against the main roster. So if your NXT gimmick is the dominant big guy, but you are actually like 6ā4ā and 250 lbs, you wonāt look big on RAW or Smackdown.
Iām not saying make them your strongest tagteam ever and give them all the championships, but they were never given a shot like many talents I get called up. If there is no plan for you once called up and no idea, itās impossible to succeed. Again, not saying these guys a Hall of Famerās but it was a concept that couldāve worked