Their non compete clause and then the coronavirus pandemic stopped The Ascension from kicking off their post-WWE careers, but the former champions are now getting ready to make their mark with a new name.
The former WWE stars recently had an interview with WrestleZone where they talked about things like their time in the company, what they were planning before the lockdown and more.
During the interview Viktor revealed that they were originally going to use the name FKA which is an acronym for ‘formerly known as’ as their name but Konnor then revealed a different name which was suggested to them recently:
“The Awakening. It’s like it’s the next step up from The Ascension, It’s still got that connection so the fans can understand it and it’s something that Vik and I think is badass regardless.”
Konnor also explained how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their plans revealing that they were actually going to return to TV but those plans were halted. Though he did not reveal which promotion the duo was going to join.
The Ascension wrestled their final WWE match in April 2019. The two were released from the company in December that year after 8 months of inactivity and their non compete clause with the promotion expired in February 2020.
In the wake of several WWE Superstars being released from the promotion, other Superstars have since reacted to the news. Luke Harper, who has been lobbying for his release for some time, was one of those who have finally been granted it. Sin Cara, who recently took to social media to inform his followers he had requested his release was another. Both Konnor and Viktor of the tag team The Ascension have also been released by WWE.
Their former colleagues Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler and Rusev, were just some of the few WWE Superstars who reflected and commented on their departure.
Ryder posted pictures from different moments featuring each of the released Superstars. One shows him and several Superstars about to have Sin Cara land on them during WrestleMania 32. Another has Harper clotheslining him, and the last is Ryder in makeup posing with The Ascension. He accompanied the memories with the caption, “Gonna miss these brothers.”
Ziggler uploaded a post similar to Ryder’s, thanking them. He also shared photos of him in-ring with Harper and Sin Cara as well as a picture of The Ascension with Tyler Breeze during a backstage segment.
After Sin Cara and Luke Harper, The Ascension has joined the list of WWE stars who have been released from their contract by the company in the last few hours.
The promotion originally announced the release of Sin Cara through a short statement on their website. They have been adding more names to the post since then and the latest ones to join the list are the former NXT stars Konnor and Viktor:
“WWE has come to terms on the releases of Jonathan
Huber (Luke Harper), Sin Cara and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) and Eric Thompson
(Viktor) of The Ascension. WWE wishes them all the best in their future
endeavors.”
The Ascension originally started as a stable in FCW and consisted members such as Kenneth Cameron, Conor O’Brian, Tito Colon, and Raquel Diaz.
The group disbanded before the territory was repackaged as NXT. After the inception of the Black and Yellow brand, Conor O’Brian was joined by Rick Victor and these two then started using the darker gimmick of the stable.
They went on to dominate the NXT tag team division during their time in the development territory and their 364-days long reign with the NXT Tag Team Championship is still the longest in the history of the title.
However, they were repackaged as Konnor and Viktor before their main roster callup and The Ascension adopted a look similar to the Road Warriors on their main roster debut. They had mostly been working as jobbers since their call up in 2014.
The extended losing streak for The Ascension has come to an end.
A user on Reddit brought up the fact that Konnor and Viktor finally ended a two-year losing streak in the WWE as they beat former SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno in a tag team match as part of the Main Event taping this past Monday night in Sioux Falls, SD at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
The losing streak for the former NXT Tag Team Champions goes back to February 8, 2016. The Ascension was called up to the main roster back in 2014 after a dominant and successful run in NXT.
What are your thoughts on this team breaking the losing streak? Sound off in the comment section.
Monday night while RAW was in Las Vegas, the Smackdown crew was in Oakland. A rental car being used by Heath Slater and the Ascension was broken into. Each member of the Ascension had their bags stolen.
It is not currently known if the thieves were aware of how many kids Heath Slater has.
He’s Got Kids!!
Slater announced on Twitter that the car had been broken into:
Last night at the Elimination Chamber, American Alpha retained their Smackdown Tag Team Championships. That is not surprising at all. In fact, there was really no reason to take the titles off of American Alpha. They are clearly the best team on Smackdown and deserve a long run with the belts. American Alpha defended their titles in a Tag Team Turmoil Match against every other team on the Smackdown roster.
In order for American Alpha to have an impressive run with the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, they need to have a legitimate opponent. There was no legitimate rival highlighted last night at the Elimination Chamber. Instead, American Alpha wound up looking like the only team worth a damn on Smackdown. Breezango was the first team eliminated. They were eliminated by Heath Slater and Rhyno, a team that has been at odds with each other for the past several weeks. The Vaudevillains were also eliminated by Slater & Rhyno. They were eliminated so quickly that most people forgot that they were even a part of the match.
Then there was The Ascension. The Usos were eliminated by American Alpha, but stuck around to beat the hell out of Gable and Jordan. The Ascension were the last team to enter the Tag Team Turmoil Match and everything was laid out perfectly for them. American Alpha were left decimated by The Usos. All they had to do was pick up the pieces and win the match. They couldn’t do it. Viktor wound up falling victim to the Grand Amplitude and Jason & Jordan wound up retaining their Smackdown Tag Team Championships.
In one match, Breezango, The Vaudevillians and The Ascension were made to look absolutely worthless. The only viable team on Smackdown right now besides AA is The Usos. American Alpha pinned The Usos last night as well. Unless Smackdown spends the next few weeks building up the teams that lost in this match, everyone will just be waiting for The Revival to finally show up.
– Chris Gigard, better known as “Biff Busick” on the independent scene, made his NXT in-ring debut at the NXT live event in Citrus Springs, Florida on Saturday evening. He lost in a singles match to fellow NXT and indie standout Rich Swann.
Biff Busick v Rich Swann in a WWE NXT ring? I'm dying. Two awesome Indy Wrestlers finally making it to the big time pic.twitter.com/6XojlbnnNT
– Also this weekend, Konnor of The Ascension returned to in-ring action at the WWE live event in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday night. Konnor had previously been on the sidelines for a week or two with what was believed to be a jaw injury of some kind. The Ascension wound up losing to the team of Goldust and Fandango in what was their first match back as a team on a main roster event since Konnor took time off to heal up. Konnor’s first match back in general was a tag-team match that saw The Ascension lost to NXT Tag-Team Champions Dash and Dawson at the NXT television tapings this past Thursday night.
– In the video featured above, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan talk about defeating The Ascension on this week’s edition of NXT.
– Announced for next week’s NXT is a contract signing between NXT Champion Finn Balor and Samoa Joe for their match at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: London special, which takes place on Wednesday, December 16th at SSE Wembley Arena in London, England. As noted, the special will air live on the WWE Network at 3pm EST. / Noon PST. on 12/16.
– In addition to the contract signing, the following matches were announced for next week’s NXT, which will be taped on Thursday night, November 19th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
* Bayley vs. Eva Marie
* Asuka vs. Dana Brooke
* The Mechanics vs. The Vaudevillains
– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin appeared on Monday’s RAW in a backstage segment with The Miz. The promotional segment for the new WWE 2K16 video game may have been taped at Hell In A Cell on Sunday, as Austin was backstage at the show. WWE posted the above video of the segment.
The following matches were taped in San Diego, California on Monday night for this week’s WWE Superstars.
Kalisto from The Lucha Dragons def. Viktor from The Ascension.
WWE taped the following matches in Austin, Texas on Tuesday night for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
– The Dudley Boyz def. The Ascension in a tag-team dark match put on for the live crowd in Austin, Texas. The Dudleyz picked up the win via pinfall after a 3D.
– Sasha Banks def. Brie Bella in the first match taped for WWE Main Event this week. Banks picked up the win via her submission finisher.
– Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman def. The Prime Time Players in tag-team action for the second match of Main Event. Strowman won the match via bearhug submission over Titus O’Neil.
– Kevin Owens def. Neville in non-title action. The Intercontinental Champion beat Neville after throwing him face-first into the middle turnbuckle and then hitting him with his Pop-Up Powerbomb finisher for the 1-2-3. This was the final match taped for this week’s Main Event.
WWE taped the following matches in Boston, Mass. on Monday night for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Cesaro def. Adam Rose in the first of two matches taped for this week’s show. Adam Rose was working his new gimmick during this one. The crowd was super into the action, especially for it being the first match of the evening, particularly due to the fact that it featured Cesaro.
– The Prime Time Players def. The Ascension in tag-team action. This was kept pretty short and pretty basic. Not as much crowd heat as the previous match, but since it didn’t go on forever, they didn’t really lose the crowd.
– Here’s the WWE Night Of Champions “Kickoff Show” pre-show featured Stardust & The Ascension vs. Neville & The Lucha Dragons in six man tag-team action:
https://youtu.be/guYuwZ3AaCY
– The following is a video preview of the new WWE Network show “Breaking Ground,” which premieres on the WWE Network on Monday, October 26th.
– WWE has announced that Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin will be one of the main events at the NXT event in Houston, Texas on Thursday, September 17th.
– The guest on this week’s edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast is former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts. The show will be available on Tuesday at 9pm EST. at PodcastOne.com.
– As reported over the weekend, WWE has created a new three-person faction called “Cosmic Wasteland,” which consists of Stardust and The Ascension. Konnor from The Ascension recently posted the following tweet praising Stardust, who appears to be the leader of the group:
WWE taped the following for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars prior to RAW on Monday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
– Zack Ryder def. Heath Slater in the opening match of the evening. It looked as though Xavier Woods was on commentary during this match, which Ryder ended up winning with the Rough Ryder in about five minutes.
– Los Matadores def. The Ascension in the second of two matches taped for this week’s WWE Superstars. The finish here saw Matadores score the pin after a cool series of moves, winning the contest at about the seven minute mark.
WWE taped the following matches for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event prior to the WWE SmackDown television tapings on Tuesday night in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Dark Match:
– Hornswoggle def. Heath Slater in the dark match for the live crowd. The Wisconsin native Hornswoggle actually picked up the “W” after hitting a top-rope tadpole splash.
WWE Main Event:
– Charlotte def. Alicia Fox in Divas action to kick off the taping. Charlotte won via the Figure Eight. A solid match with good pop from the crowd.
– Stardust def. Jack Swagger in the second match taped for Main Event. Stardust won with Dark Matter. A below average match, writes Shane. “I didn’t really see the point of having them wrestle. Barrett had no impact on the match. It really just seemed to be a time filler. The crowd wasn’t really into it either.”
– The Prime Time Players def. The Ascension in tag-team action. Titus O’Neil got the win via Clash of the Titus. Decent match. The first half was slow, but it picked up and ended well., according to Shane. The finish was pretty quick and didn’t have much build up.
– Fandango def. Adam Rose in the final match taped for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event. Rose performed his heel act before the match. Very short match. Apparently, Fandango is a babyface again? This concluded the Main Event taping.
WWE taped the following matches for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars prior to Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW in Everett, Washington.
– The Ascension def. Jack Swagger & Fandango in tag-team action to kick off the taping. There were some comedy spots in this match, which was kept relatively short. In the end, however, The Ascension was too much for Swagger and Fandango, as they finished the duo off with their finisher for the clean pinfall victory.
– Bo Dallas def. R-Truth in the second of two matches taped for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars, which airs on Wednesday evening. This was pretty much you’d expect, with the Everett, Washington fans giving Dallas a hard time in spots until ultimately, Dallas managed to get his hand raised.
WWE taped only two matches for this week’s edition of Main Event prior to the SmackDown taping in Sacramento, California on Tuesday night. Below are spoiler results for this week’s show.
– Big Show comes out to kick off the show. He cuts a promo on Ryback, but while he’s talking, Jack Swagger’s music hits. Swagger comes out, interrupting the giant, which leads to a match.
– Big Show def. Jack Swagger in one-on-one action in the first of only two matches taped for this week’s Main Event. This match was actually given a lot more time than you’d think. In the end, Big Show was able to hit his finisher on Swagger and score the 1-2-3.
– The Lucha Dragons def. The Ascension in tag-team action in what was the final match taped for this week’s show. This match was also given a decent amount of time. The crowd was into the action, as it was fast-paced and featured a lot of high-flying moves and big spots. In the end, The Lucha Dragons managed to pick up the “W.” After this match, WWE began taping this week’s SmackDown.
WWE taped the following matches on Tuesday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
– Seth Rollins kicks off this week’s show by coming out to the ring. He talks about John Cena and what happened on Monday’s RAW. Eventually, Rollins is interrupted by Cesaro. Cesaro comes out for our first match of the evening.
– Cesaro def. Seth Rollins via Disqualification in the first match taped for this week’s SmackDown. Kevin Owens joined the gang on commentary during this match and became involved in the finish, which saw Owens attack Cesaro for the DQ. Rollins teased a showdown with Owens but they ended up double-teaming Cesaro instead.
– Los Matadores & The Lucha Dragons def. The New Day & The Ascension in eight-man tag-team action in the second match taped for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
– Summer Rae and Rusev come out for a promo segment in the ring. They address what went down on Monday with Lana and the dead fish at RAW.
– Rusev def. Jack Swagger in the third match taped for SmackDown. Swagger got a big hometown pop since he is from Oklahoma. After the match, which Rusev won, he tried to attack Swagger some more, however Swagger ended up countering him and applying the Patriot Lock.
– Stardust def. R-Truth in the fourth match taped for this week’s SmackDown. Stardust was cutting a promo in the ring after the match when Neville ran out and attacked him.
– Cesaro & Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins in the fifth and final match taped for this week’s show. Cesaro picked Ambrose as his mystery partner. The finish of this match saw Ambrose counter a Pop-Up Powerbomb attempt by Owens, which allowed Cesaro to roll Owens up for the 1-2-3. This is how SmackDown will go off the air this week.
WWE taped the following matches prior to last night’s SmackDown television taping in Lincoln, Nebraska for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
– R-Truth defeated Bo Dallas in the first match taped for this week’s WWE Main Event. The finish saw Truth roll-up Dallas while Dallas was playing to the crowd. Apparently the fans were into hating Dallas in Lincoln.
– Some video replays are shown highlighting some of the action on this week’s post-Battleground edition of WWE RAW.
– JoJo interviews The Lucha Dragons backstage. The Lucha Dragons, who are scheduled to face Big E. and Kofi Kingston during tonight’s Main Event, focus their promo on The New Day.
– Big E. & Kofi Kingston defeated The Lucha Dragons in tag-team action. Again, the crowd was into hating on The New Day members, and were strongly into the high-spots that Sin Cara and Kalisto did in the match.
– The Prime Time Players defeated The Ascension in tag-team action. This served as the headline bout of this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which the WWE Tag-Team Champions won via clean pinfall to end the taping.
– The official WWE website has a new poll up asking fans to vote on which Superstar has the coolest face paint. With over 3,000 votes, Finn Balor leads the pack with 43%, while Sting is just behind him with 40 percent. Other options included Goldust, Stardust, The Usos and The Ascension.
– In the following video from Xavier Woods’ WWE-endorsed YouTube gaming channel — “UpUpDownDown” — Woods and Cesaro play the old video game “Double Dragon.”
– Former WWE Superstar Funaki was backstage at the WWE “Beast in the East” special in Tokyo, Japan this weekend. Below is a photo of him with The Lucha Dragons.
WWE taped the following matches prior to the SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night in Toledo, Ohio for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
Dark Match
– Fandando def. Brad Maddox in singles action to kick off the evening inside the building.
WWE Main Event
– Neville def. Heath Slater in the first match taped for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event. This was said to be a high-paced, crowd-pleasing match that saw the finish come when Neville hit his Red Arrow to finish off Slater in what was about a five minute match.
– The Ascension def. The Meta Powers in tag-team action. The match, which lasted about four minutes, saw The Ascension pick up the win after hitting Curtis Axel and Macho Mandow with The Fall Of Man finisher.
– R-Truth def. Adam Rose in a quick singles match. King Barrett was out for commentary during this match, which saw him leave the announce table to attack Truth, only for Truth to catch him coming and blast him with his finisher. In the end, Truth picked up the “W” in the official match with Rose as well.
– Luke Harper def. Cesaro in the headline match of the evening on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event. This was another crowd pleasing match, as Harper and Cesaro put on a hell of a show in a match that lasted about seven minutes. The finish saw Harper hit Cesaro with his clothesline from hell to score the 1-2-3 and end the Main Event taping.
WWE taped the following matches for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event prior to taping WWE SmackDown on Tuesday night in Buffalo, New York.
Dark Match
– Zack Ryder def. Brad Maddox in what was apparently a quick, basic opening contest.
WWE Main Event
– The Prime Time Players def. The Ascension in tag-team action to kick off the Main Event taping. Prior to the match, the PTP taught the crowd how to do their “Millions of Dollars” dance, while The Ascension cut a promo welcoming us to “Wasteland.” In the end, Young hit the gut buster on Viktor to score the 1-2-3.
– King Barrett def. Heath Slater in singles competition. Barrett won in what was said to be a good little match. Afterwards, R-Truth came out as “King What’s Up?” He pardoned “Lil’ Jimmy” and declared Barrett “King Jackass.”
– Naomi def. Summer Rae via submission in Divas action. Tamina was in Naomi’s corner during this one.
– Ryback def. Adam Rose in a pretty quick match with Rose surprisingly enough getting in a good bit of offense. Ryback ended up winning with the Shellshock. After the match, Ryback scared Miz to the back and then celebrated with the crowd.
– Luke Harper & Erick Rowan def. The Lucha Dragons with their new 3-D finisher. This was said to be a very face-paced and entertaining tag-team contest.
WWE taped the following matches prior to Monday’s RAW in Cleveland, Ohio for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– Cesaro def. Bo Dallas in singles action to kick off the evening. Cesaro picked up the win via submission after locking Dallas in the Sharpshooter.
– Luke Harper & Erick Rowan def. Los Matadores & The Ascension in a triple-threat tag-team contest. Harper and Rowan dominated a lot of the action before picking up the win with their finisher.