9 Times WWE Killed A Popular Star In Less Than 60 Days
5. The Ascension
Wheeled out on the main roster as lame Legion of Doom rip-offs, and having that fact telegraphed by the announce team, who were instructed to bury them, Eric ‘Viktor’ Thompson and Ryan ‘Konnor’ Parmeter didn't exactly have the best introduction.
In NXT, the bruisers were the tag team champions for one day short of a year, squashing jobbing local talent in short matches for months. Dominant and intense, their protective booking was probably a good idea, the pair not exactly setting the world on fire with their wrestling. But plenty of brawling tag teams have overcome technical limitations to excel on the big stage. Why were The Ascension any different?
At the time, WWE’s tag team division was an afterthought on their programming. Without the creative support they were used to in NXT - and without the talent or the personal charisma to elevate themselves with the crowd The Ascension fizzled away to nothing: a far cry from the 364 days of terror they inflicted upon the tag team division in NXT. It's a small miracle they've remained part of the furniture since.