The Ascension Recall Their Standout Feud With Finn Balor & KENTA, Reveal Teams They’d Like To Work With
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WrestleZone recently spoke with The Ascension, who are now going by the names Big Kon and Viktor. The duo still holds the record for the longest NXT Tag Team Championship reign ever at 364 days, and they’re surveying the tag team scene as they wait for the right time to return to the ring.
When asked about teams they’d like to see as potential opponents, they named The Briscoes, Rock ’N’ Roll Express and the Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) as some of the names they’d like to work with. Viktor also put over a team on the rise that they’ve seen in the journeys around the wrestling world, The Mane Event.
Viktor: “Those are the teams that I’ve really liked, I like all of those guys. I respect them and want to work with them, especially with Rock ‘N’ Roll because they are still kicking ass.
“I haven’t gotten to watch a lot of other stuff that’s not really on TV. We met a good team, I was surprised when I looked at their social media stuff when we were out in Outlaw Pro Wrestling, Ringleader Midas and Blazin Jay Lyon. Those are two young guys,” Viktor said, “they were super good kids, great attitudes, and then I looked at their socials and said ‘These guys are actually really good!’ Watching their stuff, it seemed like they were really polished and looked good, and great attitudes. That’s the one I can say if somebody hasn’t heard of them yet, they were someone I was going to watch, that’s for sure.”
As far as their own matches go, they pointed to their NXT feud with Kenta (Hideo Itami) and Finn Balor as the one that really changed things for them on the brand. Big Kon and Viktor also recalled working with the New Age Outlaws and Too Cool as personal highlights, but emphasized the Itami and Balor team as the main one that stands out.
Kon – “Kenta and Finn.
Viktor – “Yeah, that stuff always. I think that’s a given. I always remember our [Falls Count Anywhere] match with Hunico and Camacho. [Now respectively known as Sin Cara and Tanga Loa] I felt like that match was one that changed the course for us in NXT. I always go back to that one. It was one of my favorite NXT matches that was on TV.
“I feel like I remember more of our live event matches with certain guys that will probably never see the light of day. I think that’s the same on the main roster. The Cosmic Wasteland matches were cool. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were a pretty awesome starter for us to begin with.”
Kon – “When we got to work with Too Cool, that was great. I really think I’ve got to say Kenta and Finn were probably the ones that we did the most work with that is something that I’m proud of what we did.
Stay tuned for our full interview with The Ascension where they reveal their new team name, talk about their post-WWE plans (including a tease that we might see them back on TV sooner than later), the feeling behind getting called up to the main WWE roster from NXT and much more.
We added some free-to-watch recommendations to the list and selected highlights from The Ascension’s career.
Bryan Danielson vs KENTA
ROH Glory By Honor V (Night Two) — September 6, 2006
Hideo Itami & Finn Bálor vs. The Ascension
NXT TakeOver: R Evolution — December 11, 2014
Neville & Lucha Dragons vs. Stardust & The Ascension
WWE SmackDown — October 1, 2015
Dudley Boyz vs. Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension vs. Sheamus & King Barrett
WWE SmackDown — October 29, 2015
Samoa Joe vs. Finn Bálor (NXT Championship Steel Cage Match)
NXT TakeOver: The End — June 8, 2016
The Danielson vs. KENTA and Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor matches can be seen in full below. Highlights from the other matches are embedded below; the full-length matches are available on WWE Network.
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