SPOILER: Former Tag Team Champions will reportedly be making their WWE TV return after 3 years

Triple H has reportedly given the green light to the Authors of Pain for making their live appearance on WWE.


SPOILER: Former Tag Team Champions will reportedly be making their WWE TV return after 3 years

WWE Tag Team (via Whatculture)

2023 would go down in WWE history as the year of returns. Through the alleyways of wrestling, a piece of news has surfaced stating that the former Tag Team Champions, the Authors of Pain (AOP) are set to make their return to WWE programming.

Rumors suggest that as of now, the plan is for them to appear on Friday Night SmackDown. As revealed to Fightful Select, they are scheduled to be accompanied by the Hall of Famer, Paul Ellering as their manager.

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The team of Akam and Rezar was reportedly signed in August 2022. It remains unclear why the dominant tag team was signed so long ago and didn’t get featured on WWE programming.

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Akam and Rezar were released back in September 2020. There were plans for them to appear at an Indie show which was eventually cancelled. Later, reports also suggested them returning to the developmental territory of WWE NXT but it seems it got nixed as well. For those who don’t know, the AOP used to accompany Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins in their previous main roster run on Monday Night Raw. Their last match saw them teaming up with the Visionary and Buddy Matthews to defeat the Street Profits and the Viking Raiders.

Reflecting on Authors of Pain’s previous run with WWE

The American Alpha barely had any time to regroup after their match with the Revival, when they were ambushed by the monstrous duo of AOP. The duo of Sunny Dhinsa (Akam) and Gzim Selmani (Rezar) was then accompanied by WWE Hall of Famer, Paul Ellering, as their manager. Old-schoolers remember Ellering as the loud-mouthed manager of the Road Warriors. He was honored with the Hall of Famer induction in 2011.

Authors of Pain
Authors of Pain with Paul Ellering in NXT (via WWE)

The Authors of Pain first appeared on the scene in 2015 but as a trio having Lovepreet Sangha. However, it was a one-time experience. The rest was history once they won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament in 2016 and the NXT Tag Team Titles. In 2018, they were promoted to the Red Brand with Drake Maverick as their manager.

Sunny has an amateur wrestling background, while Gzim is a MMA fighter. Their wrestling style exudes the dominant aura that they carry. Relying on brawling tactics and dominating the opponents through their sheer size advantage, they have formed an impressive challenge for any team that they have come across. Time will tell how their upcoming run will turn out on the WWE Main Roster.

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