WWE has released several Superstars from their contracts over the last few months, and one of the Superstars who happened to get released was Konnor of The Ascension.
Konnor’s run with WWE included a stint on NXT back when it was a reality show format, and he recently spoke to Wrestling Inc. about what it was like for Vince McMahon to give him a rat gimmick.
“Honestly, Justin I try not to think too much about that. I think once and a while people will hit me up like oh the right character. I’m like, ‘oh dear god. Oh dear god.’ And that was Vince’s idea just so you guys know that. Make sure everyone knows that. I didn’t want to do that. That was Vince’s idea. He came up with that character back in 2007. That’s a true story,” Konnor said. “I had to go sit in his office one day, and Fit [Finlay] had this whole thing of, ‘he looks like a rat.’ I’m like come on man. This is embarrassing man.”
“Come on. So Johnny Ace took me in there. Vince is kind of just sitting in his chair. I don’t care who you are. For the most part, you’re gonna be nervous when you meet him for the first time, and that was my first time meeting him. And Vince was just sitting in his chair. He’s like asking me these questions like, ‘what kind of music do you listen to?’ I was like, ‘I like rock n roll.’ He goes, ‘ugh.’ Then he looks down, and I’m like oh no. Oh I really screwed that question up. Oh man. Then he goes, ‘what kind of movies do you like?’ I go, ‘I like comedies.’ He goes, ‘ugh.’ Then he looks down. Dude it looks like disappointment, and I’m like man I’m really bombing this thing right now. Then Johnny Ace is just nice and quiet sitting to the right of me, and he goes, ‘Vince, Fit says he looks like a rat.’ Then once Vince heard that, he comes up real slow and looks at me bugged eyed. He’s like looking at me, and I’m like this is so uncomfortable. Like I am so uncomfortable with this. Like I would have rather sat around one of my exes than have him look at me the way he looked at me. I was like oh my god this is it. I’m done. I’m finished, and he goes, ‘can you talk nasally?’ And I go, ‘what?’ [He goes], ‘nasally.’ I’m like man what is he talking about? He’s like, ‘can you talk like this?’ I was like oh my god. What is happening here? So lieu and behold, that’s how the rat character came about. It was something that Vince envisioned. Whether it was a rib, I don’t know. Hell of a rib.”
Konnor is no longer a WWE Superstar, but The Ascension did recently return to the independent scene.
