Have the WWE Gone to Far with changing the Ascension?
This past Monday on RAW Konnor and Viktor aka the Ascension made their much anticipated main roster debut as they took on former tag team champions the Miz and Damien Sandow/Mizdow. With an already poor crowd the duo received a weak reaction from the live audience however they managed to spark much more attention online. Fans of the two including myself were delighted to see the Ascension finally arrive on the bigger stage, after all it has been a long journey to the top and there is still much more work to do. However, despite all the excitement there was a lot of controversy surrounding the new image given to Konnor and Vicktor. With comparisons to legendary past tag teams Demolition and the Road Warriors. and the obvious issues with the whole illuminati theory. In the space of six days the WWE have received much criticism and the promising tag team appear to be loosing fans due to the change and are failing to connect with member's of the WWE universe who are no aware of their previous work. With all the dramatic changes are the careers of the Ascension at risk? Today, we take a look back at the previous changes that have accrued over the years for this tag team and weather or not the WWE have gone too far this time around.
In the summer of two thousand and eight it was announced by Ricardo Rodriguez that a new stable would be arriving in FCW. The team of Kenneth Cameron (now know as TNA wrestler Bram), Konnor O'Brian,Tito Colon and Raquel Diaz (the daughter of Vicki Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero) would form the Ascension. The faction went on to pick up numerous strong victories over several different opponents and they even got a shot at the FCW Tag team championships but failed to pick up the titles.By October Rodriguez was no longer associated with the group and a video promo showed a more darker side and only showed the four members known as the Ascension. By November there was pretty much no more Ascension. With O'Brian out on injury and Colon being called up to WWE to team with his cousin Primo. Then Diaz went on to become Queen of FCW and distanced herself from the group. This left Cameron who continued to use the Ascension gimmick and went on a winning streak. Upon returning from he's injury, O'Brian re-joined with Cameron and the two continued to compete as a tag team and went on to compete in NXT when FCW was re-branded. However, in late two thousand and twelve Cameron was released from WWE after being arrested. From then on O'Brian would compete as a singles wrestler until he was then put as a tag team with Vicktor once again forming the Ascension. From then onwards they would go one to become the longest reigning NXT Tag team champions and would develop a strong following from the NXT universe, being two of the most popular NXT superstars. This would of course lead to a lot of people wanting the Ascension to debut on the main roster and this past week on RAW that wish came true.
Saying that the road to the main roster was a long one is serious understatement. There is no one in NXT who has had to fight so hard to get up to the main roster more than these two. With setbacks and change ups these Konnor and Viktor have more than earned the place on the WWE main roster. However as we saw this past week when they debuted there some changes in the style of The Ascension. Since their new image was revealed a thew weeks back they have been compared to legendary tag teams Road Warriors and Demolition. I have mentioned before on my blog and on twitter that these guys have a very traditional sense about them but at the same time are very original and different. I have also mentioned in the past how much they do remind me of these two tag teams however, it appears the WWE have very clearly set out to make these guys as much like the Road Warriors as possible. Now some people might not get why there is so much controversy, after all being compared to two of the biggest tag teams in history must be a good thing right? Absolutely! Being compared can be a great thing but when the company are deliberately trying to re-create a legendary tag team its a bad bad idea. No superstar or diva should be made to mirror a hall of famer, a legend or any past. They should be pushed to create their own legacy. And the even stranger thing with this case is that the Ascension didn't need any change ups what so ever. Since being in existence these guys have had multiple changes in their appearance and just when they get the right look that suits them and looks right the WWE go and change them to look identical to a previous tag team. What also bothers me is how other people who don't watch NXT are going to view the Ascension. The WWE have made it almost impossible for anyone not to compare Konnor and Viktor to the Road Warriors and the reality of it is is these guys have their own style both in and outside of the ring yet the people who have not seen their NXT work won't know this and instead will only view them as Road Warriors wannabes when that is not the case what so ever. I honestly don't think they needed this massive change its going to work against them instead of for them. All the big changes just seems way too much and it feels like even they look uncomfortable and as a long fan of them I can't help but cringe at the new image. I know it's not a major change but it is pretty big and their previous more basic image was enough. It matches their in ring style more and it all just worked together really well.
I have always had high high expectations of the Ascension. From the get go. The idea is so strong and they have so much potential it's unreal. I have to admit I do think they make amazing heels and I don't like how their working as faces at the moment. I know that's likely to change in a number of months if not weeks but I just think they needed a stronger start. I mentioned last week I was not a fan of their debut what so ever. I think they looked really weak and the build up wasn't strong enough in my opinion. In an ideal world what I wanted to see was them debuting a thew months back. I think it would of been so awesome if the Usos dropped the titles to Harper and Rowan all those months back and they would then feud with the Ascension. This would of been the best way to have them debut as baby faces. The heat would of been insane and it would of been a strong start to their main roster career. I think what they got last week wasn't enough and it didn't allow them to connect with the fans strong enough. I do think they had so many opportunities to have them debut during last weeks show but they used the worst time. It would of been great if they had them arrive just as the Usos one the tag team championships. It would of been strong and would of allowed them to really get an instant strong connection with the crowd. Because of their weak debut I do think they are gonna have a lot of work to do when it comes to connecting with he crowd and with their new copy cat image they must show originality and the upcoming weeks are going to be really really important. All that being said there is not a single doubt in my mind that these two will be tag team champions in the next year and they will have a huge following if they are used right.
But what do you think? Do you think the changes are too dramatic? Let me know in the comments bellow.
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I haven't watched NXT much at all. But, when the Ascension debuted on RAW the first thing I thought of was the Legion of Doom/Road Warriors. I think they need their own visual identity. I'm sure that many younger WWE fans do not get the resemblance to LOD, but the older ones should definitely see it.
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