15 MORE Failed Experiments From WWE Developmental
7. The Ascension 2.0
Kenneth Cameron's release due to an arrest in November 2012 resulted in a complete rethink for The Ascension, but the act itself had enough credit in the bank to unexpectedly get a second proper NXT run (and third including FCW!) when Rick Victor scouted the now-single Connor O'Brian and helped him find the Road Warrior-esque squash monster within.
As the rebadged Viktor and Konnor, everything clicked in a major way. A new look and entrance gave new life to The Ascension, doubling down on the dominance they'd held prior. They took very little time to plough through the majority of the competition, and were fixtures of early WWE Network Takeover specials as unbeatable and unstoppable NXT Tag Team Champions.
Booked as heels but beloved as babyfaces in the Full Sail home of the brand, the team held the gold for one day short of a full year, putting over Kalisto and Sin Cara, getting them over as bold underdog babyfaces while facilitating a shift to a more obvious heel role for the monsters in order to provide opposition for debutants Hideo Itami and Finn Bálor.
A disastrous main roster run in the aftermath of a positive time on NXT was the rule rather than the exception for acts making the jump in the mid-2010s, and just like that, they were ancient NXT history.
More's the pity. Tag wrestling on the show was once again about to ascend...