The Revival were known as one of the best tag teams in the world during their time in WWE. But their perceived lack of a personality maybe held them back on the main roster. Being from North Carolina, Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder have a natural southern accent, which doesn't seem to go over well with Vince McMahon.
But Dawson & Wilder had a big supporter in NXT who wanted to make sure they were showcased.
"Dusty [Rhodes] enjoyed the fact that we're both southerners and sound southern. It's hard to hide the accent. Some people on top of WWE may not like the southern accent. Dusty enjoyed the southern accent, but also because he knew that the upper chain of the WWE didn't. He liked to push back a little. He knew that, even though we had a southern accent and style, he knew we could cut promos and were confident. I think he wanted to shove it in Vince's face that these two southern boys could get it done," said Dawson on Talk Is Jericho.
When asked about McMahon not wanting to highlight superstars with a southern accent, Dawson said, "We heard it a bit, 'you're not going to get promo time.' He never said it directly to us. We brought it up to him and he laughed about it, saying, 'I'm from North Carolina.' We didn't understand it. I don't think it's just a Vince thing, it's a worldwide thing. Just because you have a southern accent, you're perceived as being a dumbass. When we started teaming, I told Daniel, 'I want to show that you can be a southern wrestler without being an idiot.' The last meeting we had with Vince, we were telling him our grievances and he said, 'You guys are so well-spoken, we can send you into the world and you can do all these meetings.' He couldn't believe we would be able to speak to the public."
It was in that same last meeting that McMahon pitched the idea of Dawson & Wilder doing a comedy gimmick. The Revival said they were willing to do it, knowing they were leaving when their contracts expired, but were pulled off the road. You can read their comments on their final meeting with McMahon by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.