Following what many would call an upset victory over The Vaudevillains, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder captured the NXT Tag Team Championship last week. But as evidenced by their attitudes, the newly crowned champions believe their win was simply a culmination of mutual lifelong goals. WWE.com caught up with the new titleholders, who make no apologies for their actions.
Watch Dash & Dawson dismantle Aiden English’s knee
WWE.COM: Thank you for joining us, gentlemen. How does it feel to be the new NXT Tag Team Champions?
SCOTT DAWSON: Validated. That’s the only way I can describe it. Since we were young, this was our No. 1 goal. After a year here in NXT as a tag team, tearing the house down on every Live Event, we finally got one opportunity at the NXT Tag Team Championship and we took full advantage of it. Now, we can officially call ourselves the best tag team on the planet. We have the hardware to prove it.
DASH WILDER: Exactly. It feels right. It feels like we are everything we said we were. It feels like we worked our whole lives to prove people wrong. And that’s exactly what we did.
WWE.COM: Why do you think the NXT Universe was so shocked that you captured the tag team gold?
DAWSON: I’ve been in NXT for almost three years. I have seen people come and I’ve seen a lot more go. I’ve also seen people walk into NXT and get handed many opportunities. For Dash and myself, we’ve never been handed anything. We’ve always had to prove our worth, and that’s OK with us. I just think the NXT Universe had no idea what we had to offer. Now, after working hard and getting an opportunity, we’re reaping the rewards.
DASH: It was a shock to the people that didn’t really know Dash & Dawson, especially to the people that hadn’t seen us on TV. People wanted to judge us based on paragraphs without reading the entire book.
WWE.COM: You guys made mention of being very successful on NXT’s non-televised Live Events prior to getting more TV time. Why do you feel you weren’t taken seriously enough until recently to get more TV time?
DASH: Obviously we weren’t taken that seriously because we didn’t get thrown right into the title picture. If you’ve watched us on Live Events, you know what we can do. If you watch us go 20 or 30 minutes and take someone apart, and watch us hang with the “stars,” then you take that seriously. To the people that watch NXT TV, they had no reason to take us seriously until the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Then we took it and ran with it.
WWE.COM: What makes your team mesh so well?
DAWSON: For starters, we’ve known each other for more than 24 years. We grew up together in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Besides the obvious of knowing each other inside and out, our goal since we were young was to be the Tag Team Champions in WWE. It seems all the other Superstars here wrestle to please the crowd. They wrestle to feed their egos with “ This is awesome” chants. We fight to feed our families. We fight to win. If, at the end of the night, the NXT Universe likes us, OK. If they don’t, that’s perfectly fine, too. As long as our check cashes the next day, we’ll be all right.
DASH: Our bond is a bond that you can’t manufacture or reproduce. When Scott made it to NXT, we knew it was just a matter of time before I was here, and we talked about it every day. By the time I walked through the doors, we already had everything planned and ready. We aren’t here to win popularity contests or to be the most raved about on podcasts or blogs. We are here to bring back the meaning of tag team wrestling. Tag team wrestling is more than two guys slapping hands. It’s about knowing what the other is thinking, knowing what you have to do, and not being afraid to do it, whatever it takes.
WWE.COM: Does doing whatever it takes include injuring Big Cass a few weeks ago?
DAWSON: Look, we’ve been fed up for a while now. Dash and I had a long talk about four months ago about the need to reformulate our game plan. We looked at the landscape and realized that every team in WWE seemed to be fighting for the fans to give them something to cheer about. There was no ruthlessness or sense of urgency to win. As long as the WWE Universe was happy with the athletic contest, the Superstars felt accomplished. Not Dash & Dawson. We’re in the ring to do one thing: get the winners’ part of the money. If it means ripping Big Cass’ MCL or tearing Aiden English’s knee to feed our bank accounts, that’s OK with us. Zero remorse.
WWE.COM: At the end of the day, what’s the goal of Dawson & Dash?
DASH: We care about being the best at what we do. Not just in NXT, but in the world.
DAWSON: We are ushering in the tag team revolution here, and I honestly don’t think there’s a better team on the planet. Tag team wrestling will be at the forefront because of us, and we’re going to make a lot of money doing it.
For more on the NXT Tag Team Champions, follow Scott Dawson on Twitter @ScottDawsonWWE and @DashWilderWWE.