10 Things We Learned From Speaking To Orlando Colón

4. His Time In The Original Ascension

Epico Primo
WWE

When people think of The Ascension, they think of the Konnor and Viktor paring who were turned into a jobbing joke of a tag team shortly after hitting the WWE main roster in late 2014.

Many fans will be well aware that the initial NXT version of The Ascension featured current NWA star Thom Latimer as Kenneth Cameron alongside Konnor, but what you likely aren't aware of is the fact that Orlando Colón was part of a version of The Ascension that pre-dated the team's NXT days.

On who made up the 2011 FCW incarnation of The Ascension, Orlando detailed how this was a group featuring him and Shaul Guerrero along with Konnor and Cameron, and that Ricardo Rodriguez was the stable's mouthpiece.

With Rodriguez acting as a sports agents of sorts, The Ascension had a major fan in the guise of one Dusty Rhodes - a Dusty who pushed for the group to be influenced by True Blood.

Discussing how his departure from this faction came about, Colón told us,"We had promos sent up to WWE. We even did an interview. We were ready to go to WWE as a unit. But then Bill DeMott called us up. 'Hey, WWE loves the gimmick, they're going to go with it, it's a matter of time. How would you guys feel if WWE wanted to disband the group or take one of you guys out for the main roster?'"

It was at that point that it was announced to Orlando that he would be heading to the main roster to join his cousin Primo.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.