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In recent months, WWE has returned to hiring numerous athletes who in recent years had been released due to the famous budget cuts desired by Vince McMahon and associates. With Triple H joining the creative team, numerous athletes have returned to the fold such as Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Dexter Lumis and many more.
The last two important names that could soon reappear in WWE are those of Akam and Rezar, or the two who made up the Authors of Pain, former NXT pair champions, who could soon return to the WWE rings. One of the last episodes of the Fightful Select and the pages of Ringside News thought about reporting the indiscretion, with overseas journalists who revealed: "Fightful Select has discovered that Akam and Rezar, collectively known as the Authors of Pain or AOP, are being considered for a potential return to WWE.
Both were an integral part of NXT's Black & Gold brand prior to their call to Raw. In addition, the possibility of the reinstatement of their longtime manager Paul Ellering has also been discussed. He managed them during their NXT run before leaving on the main roster.
The duo remained close to Ellering and also called themselves the Legion of Pain outside of WWE. There were originally rumors that Ellering didn't want to have the main roster trips and so he declined."
WWE keeps moving
In the summer of 2021, some rumors had reported the news that AOP had retired from the world of pro-wrestling, with the same athletes who had wanted to have their say.
As often happens in these cases, when there are more or less important rumors circulating, the protagonists decide to come forward to give their point of view and let their fans know how things really are. So it was also for the AOPs who didn't wait long and after the rumors about their retirement from pro-wrestling, spread by the well-known site Fightful Select, one of the most reliable, they wrote a tweet which is actually practically a copy paste with the same photo and the same sentence: "We have not finished s********i".
The two also received very strong support from the WWE Hall of Famer, who later also became their manager at NXT, where the two became champions, Paul Ellering, who reinforced the concept exposed by the two, almost suggesting that there could still be a future collaboration between them.
Also note how Akam and Paul still have clear references to the company on their profiles, such as the WWE name in the nickname or descriptions in the biography that seem to speak of a job that is still present.