10 NXT Stars That Failed On The Main Roster (And Why)
9. The Ascension
The Ascension may be the least credible tag team in the WWE today, but they remain the longest reigning NXT Tag Team Champions, having held the titles for 364 days over 2013 and 2014.
Infamous for their brutal shock-and-awe tactics in squash matches against ‘local talent’, Konnor and Viktor were clearly following in the footsteps of stiff hoss teams like the Road Warriors or the APA (albeit clumsily).
However, when called up to the main roster in January 2015, creative had them dressing in ersatz Legion Of Doom gear and boasting of being bigger than Demolition, better than the Road Warriors - while JBL derisively buried them on colour commentary. That baffling decision rendered their main roster debut a fiasco from day one. Why have your heel announcer cr*p all over your brand new heel tag team for being derivative and over-hyped?
The angle, such as it was, lead to the Ascension being beaten up by the APA and the New Age Outlaws, and then into a pointless mini-feud with the Outlaws culminating at the Royal Rumble with a victory over the veteran team.
It was too little, too late. The damage had already been done. The Ascension were now a joke, and quickly spiralled down the card.