The Ascension & 9 Other Great NXT Teams WWE Ruined On The Main Roster

Over the last few years, NXT has produced some incredible tag teams, being one of the best homes of tag team wrestling in the world at times. Many of these teams, despite having potential and a lot of upside, have unfortunately been misused by WWE when they have been promoted to the main roster.RELATED: 12 Wrestlers Who Won Tag Team Titles With At Least 3 Different PartnersWhether it be gimmick changes, a different presentation, or just bad booking, many of these teams simply haven’t translated when being called up from NXT, which is certainly a shame given that many showed just how good they were on the (former) black and gold brand.

10 The Ascension

To date, The Ascension are still the longest reigning NXT Tag Team Champions of all time. In NXT, the duo of Konnor and Viktor ran through opponents, squashing people on their way to an undefeated run which made them look like monsters of the tag team division.

WWE changed up the ring-gear of The Ascension once they moved to the main roster, making them look as though they were cosplaying teams of the past. In one of the worst displays of burying talent seen for a long time, WWE had a series of legends completely embarrass The Ascension, after they were torn apart on commentary by JBL too, with the team becoming jobbers.

9 The Vaudevillains

The team of Simon Gotch and Aiden English offered something different to any other tag team for years, with a throwback presentation and an in-ring style which fit their gimmicks perfectly. After one shot at the belts very early on into their main roster run, they became a pair of enhancement talents.

Gone was their black-and-white entrance, quirky characters, and extended matches, with the former NXT Tag Champions getting no further pushes or time to show what they could do. English would find some minor success when aligned with Rusev, but WWE ruined that eventually too.

8 Authors of Pain

Akam and Rezar had a great NXT run, and though they were green a lot of the time, they were used well and made to look like monsters, especially with a manger like the legendary Paul Ellering as a mouthpiece. On the main roster, 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick was given the role of manager, which didn’t fit at all.

Instead of the AOP being a monster pairing, they were often afterthoughts, and even with a brief spell as Seth Rollins’ lackeys, WWE had no long-term plans for them, eventually releasing the pair despite tremendous potential.

7 The IIconics

The IIconics have such an undeniable and natural chemistry that it is baffling to have witnessed the poor booking when it came to them. Perhaps they weren’t the best overall superstars as singles competitors, but they were great heels when paired together, so it was surprising to see that despite one reign with the Women’s Tag Titles, they were rarely featured in the division.

WWE should have built their Women’s Tag Division around these two women, but instead broke them up, and eventually released each of them in 2021.

6 Sanity

Sanity was a truly unique faction when in NXT, with a great look and dynamic amongst the members, with each of Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe, and Nikki Cross all offering something different.

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WWE offered Sanity zero momentum upon their call-up, even after a great run in NXT full of strong matches. Nikki Cross was taken away from the group, and they became an afterthought very quickly, with no substantial storylines or feuds during their tenure on the main roster.

5 Heavy Machinery

Otis & Tucker were a great duo, and a perfect mix of comedy, seriousness, and legit talent, with them being a great throwback team who would fit in any era of wrestling. The fans were well into the team, and their matches were strong, so WWE did the typical WWE thing of breaking them up.

Before they’d even won a tag title, Tucker was made to turn on Otis with zero follow up, with the pair going their separate ways. Tucker was released, and Otis turned heel, ending all hopes of what could have been a great team for years to come.

4 Enzo Amore & Big Cass

Enzo & Cass were one of the most over acts in NXT history, and even for a short time on Raw once they moved up to the main roster. Even with a great gimmick, a marketable act, and a fun dynamic as a team, WWE couldn’t help but break them up, attempting to push Cass as a monster heel.

The team never truly got a shot to make it work on the main roster, with few tag titles pursuits or programs, and they are now both gone from the company, acting as yet another missed opportunity to create a long-term babyface team.

3 Viking Raiders

The former War Machine and War Raiders produced fantastic matches on NXT, as a great big man duo, with scary speed and strength, making them stand out. When they moved up to the main roster, their individual names were changed, as was their team name, becoming “The Viking Experience.”

This baffled fans, with them quickly becoming “The Viking Raiders”, but this nonsense with their name had taken all the wind out of their sails, and they have still yet to truly make a strong impression on Raw or SmackDown years later.

2 American Alpha

The team of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan was perfect. They encapsulated everything that a babyface tag team should offer, and despite a slow start, they did become SmackDown Tag Team Champions within their first six months on the main roster.

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After a fine enough reign, they would lose, and then they would be split up in the draft without ever really getting a chance to shine. WWE didn’t even give them a full year on the main roster as a team before separating them. Jordan would go on to become Kurt Angle kayfabe son, and Gable has only just begun to find his feet on the main roster, five years later.

1 The Revival

The Revival won their fair share of tag team gold on the main roster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were used well. Tag team wrestling on Raw and SmackDown has never been a highlight, nor has it received significant time, and without that, The Revival became just another team trading wins and losses.

As shown by their time in both NXT and AEW, they are absolute stars and one of the best teams in recent memory, but WWE had them often lose, had them be embarrassed in some truly poor comedy skits, and didn’t have any faith in letting them show how enjoyable tag team wrestling can be.