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Konnor believes Vince McMahon did not need to change The Ascension’s characters following their move from WWE NXT to the main roster in 2014.
The Ascension’s Konnor and Viktor held the NXT Tag Team Championship for a record-setting 343 days between October 2013 and September 2014. They joined the RAW and SmackDown rosters in December 2014 and adopted a similar look to legendary tag teams Demolition and The Road Warriors.
Speaking on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Konnor said he did not agree with McMahon’s decision to alter The Ascension’s personas. He also used former NXT Champion Neville as an example of someone else whose character did not need to be altered:
“Well, it’s his company! I personally don’t believe you should change anything [from NXT to the main roster]. This is just my personal opinion.” Konnor continued, “I mean, why fix something that’s not broken? It was such a different time, too, because you’ve got Neville, for instance. They had a whole different vision with Neville if you remember correctly.” [48:44-49:23]
The Ascension received their release from WWE in December 2019 after eight months off television. They now wrestle as The Awakening on the independent scene.
Konnor reflects on The Ascension’s disappointing run on WWE’s main roster
Despite a dominant spell on Triple H’s NXT brand, The Ascension struggled to receive television time during their five years on WWE's main roster.
Konnor added that he is not bitter about the team’s lack of success on RAW and SmackDown. He also has a lot of appreciation for the fans who know how good he and Viktor really are:
“You can sit there and let it eat you alive, or you just keep on moving. But the best that I’ve learned so far being around and talking with people is hearing that the fans know [The Ascension was underutilized], and it’s so appreciative to hear that. They know and they get it,” said Konnor. [51:22-51:45]
The Ascension were given just three WWE Tag Team Championship opportunities in five years on RAW and SmackDown. Their final title match ended in defeat against Chad Gable and Jason Jordan at Elimination Chamber in February 2017.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.
