AOP Return Teased On WWE SmackDown
The Authors of Pain look to be returning to WWE TV soon
It looks as though Akam & Rezar of the Authors Of Pain will be back on WWE programming imminently. During last night’s vignette surrounding the repackaging of Karrion Kross, a silhouette of AOP was shown, accompanied with Kross saying the word “authors”, clearly implying that he will be aligning with the tag team going forwards.
Interestingly, a third person was shown who heavily resembled Paul Ellering - the man who previously managed the AOP in NXT and at the very start of their main roster run. A report from Fightful Select before SmackDown noted that they would be back on WWE TV very soon. It further went on to state that the team had been signed to WWE since all the way back in 2022, but for whatever reason they hadn’t yet resurfaced.
The AOP are former NXT & RAW Tag Team Champions, being presented as a dominant force before an injury to Akam removed them from programming (and from Seth Rollins’ faction, of which they were a part of). They would receive their release amidst the pandemic budget cuts.