15 MORE Failed Experiments From WWE Developmental
8. The ORIGINAL Ascension
Headline-makers in the early days of NXT hailing from its familiar Full Sail University digs in the early-2010s, The Ascension were as difficult to pin down for the three count as they were as an act. A stable in FCW had become a tag team on the black and gold brand, with Conor O'Brian and Kenneth Cameron left as a duo just as the market leader vastly overhauled its system.
With an entrance that impressively (for the time) spliced pre-recorded b-roll with the live footage walking menacingly to the ring, a solid television foundation was created underneath the act that set them apart enough from the rest of the field that it took main roster fly-ins to give them something to do. A mini-feud with The Usos filled a lot of their time in 2012, in-between absolutely decimating smaller makeshift/jobber teams along the way.
Though the characters were perhaps a little too undefined for the original push, the messaging that they were there to completely dominate was clear enough, and their size advantage in the smaller-feeling developmental made them look readier than most for a main roster run should the opportunity ever present itself.
Ultimately, by the time that call was made, the act had been completely retooled...