Kemo
08-31-2023, 08:17 PM
The Authors of Pain are reportedly under contract once again with WWE in a deal that was reached last year.
AOP (Akam and Rezar) were released from WWE in September 2020 and have not competed since they were cut from the company. A report at the time said that Vince McMahon had 'given up' on the pair in 2019, despite Paul Heyman wanting to give the duo a major push.
Last year, the pair had intended to launch their own promotion 'Wrestling Entertainment Series' but the inaugural event was canceled, reportedly over low ticket sales.
Sources who spoke to Fightful Select have claimed that AOP has been under contract with WWE since 2022, though Fightful hasn't confirmed as much. Those sources added that AOP was rehired “before Vince McMahon came back because that put a halt on all signings besides new recruits.”
AOP were on an internal travel list back in May, but have yet to compete at any WWE events, either on TV or at house shows. Fightful's sources added that AOP made sure that former manager Paul Ellering was heavily involved in negotiations.
PW Insider adds that there has been talk in the last week of bringing AOP and Ellering back for some WWE appearances, most likely as part of NXT. Akam and Rezar are former NXT Tag Team Champions and worked as part of the gold brand for years with Ellering as their manager. The group was called up to Raw in April 2018 and would capture the RAW Tag Team Championships that November.
AOP (Akam and Rezar) were released from WWE in September 2020 and have not competed since they were cut from the company. A report at the time said that Vince McMahon had 'given up' on the pair in 2019, despite Paul Heyman wanting to give the duo a major push.
Last year, the pair had intended to launch their own promotion 'Wrestling Entertainment Series' but the inaugural event was canceled, reportedly over low ticket sales.
Sources who spoke to Fightful Select have claimed that AOP has been under contract with WWE since 2022, though Fightful hasn't confirmed as much. Those sources added that AOP was rehired “before Vince McMahon came back because that put a halt on all signings besides new recruits.”
AOP were on an internal travel list back in May, but have yet to compete at any WWE events, either on TV or at house shows. Fightful's sources added that AOP made sure that former manager Paul Ellering was heavily involved in negotiations.
PW Insider adds that there has been talk in the last week of bringing AOP and Ellering back for some WWE appearances, most likely as part of NXT. Akam and Rezar are former NXT Tag Team Champions and worked as part of the gold brand for years with Ellering as their manager. The group was called up to Raw in April 2018 and would capture the RAW Tag Team Championships that November.