Viktor Recalls PAC Nearly Quitting WWE After Pitched Mask Gimmick

In a recent interview on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Viktor (formerly of The Ascension in WWE) discussed the team’s struggles after their main roster call-up, On PAC nearly quitting after being pitched a masked gimmick, and much more. Here are some of the highlights (via Wrestling Inc.):

Viktor on The Ascension’s struggles after their main roster call-up: “When we first came up we were Vince’s shiny new toys and I think we were tarnished in a month. So, it didn’t take too long. At the same time, we kept trying to prove ourselves over and over again with every opportunity that we were ever given. And it was funny because it would always feel like we would get a little traction on something or we’d kinda catch his eye again. And then he’d just forget about us the next week.”

On WWE adjusting the team’s characters after they’d establish them in NXT: “It certainly doesn’t make any sense why you would change somebody’s look when they’ve already established themselves as characters. Like that was the thing. NXT, I felt like for a lot of us, was like our evolution. You’d start out as fresh-faced whoever on NXT and you’d evolve into who you’d become. And so that way by the time you’re on the main roster you didn’t have to redo yourself. But then it seemed like everybody that they brought up at that time was just like, ‘We’re gonna completely redo you – the way you look and make you something different.’ And you’re like, ‘Why the f*ck did I just spend five years working my ass off, chiseling myself into what I am now?’ I just couldn’t believe it.”

On PAC nearly quitting after being pitched a masked gimmick: “I’ll never forget watching Neville walk into the locker room with the cape and one of the dumbest masks I’ve ever seen in my life. We were like, ‘What the f*ck is this?’ He almost quit that day.”