Tag: AOP

Seth Rollins’ Stable Loses AOP Due To Rezar’s Injury

The injury to Rezar of The Authors of Pain has led to a significant change to Seth Rollins’ WWE RAW stable.

Rezar suffered a torn right biceps during the March 9 RAW episode on the USA Network. The injury occurred when Rezar took a crossbody from RAW Tag Team Champion Montez Ford during the eight-man main event of the show, which saw AOP, Rollins and Murphy defeat The Viking Raiders and The Street Profits. Rezar caught the crossbody, but his biceps went out.

There had been speculation on WWE keeping Akam on TV with Rollins and Murphy while Rezar is out of action. In an update, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports this week that right now the decision is to not use Akam without Rezar. As of right now, there are no plans for either of them to appear on TV.

This means the stable with Rollins, Murphy, Akam and Rezar has now been reduced to just the tag team with Rollins and Murphy. There’s no word on if WWE plans to add to the team to make it a faction again while AOP is off TV.

It was also noted that Rezar has already undergone surgery to repair the torn right biceps. This has not been confirmed, but he’s expected to be out of action for 7-8 months, which means AOP may be out of the storylines until after the SummerSlam pay-per-view in August. There was some talk that Rezar may have been able to avoid surgery, which would have had him on the shelf for just a few months, but he ended up going under the knife and will likely be out for closer to 8 months.

Rollins is scheduled to face Kevin Owens in a singles match at WrestleMania 36, during either Night One on Saturday, April 4, or during Night Two on Sunday, April 5. Samoa Joe had been involved in the Owens vs. Rollins feud before he was suspended for 30 days due to his first violation of the WWE Wellness Policy, going against Rollins, but there’s no word yet on if he was brought back at this week’s TV and WrestleMania tapings because his suspension did expire. It could be interesting if they have Joe turn on Owens, putting him in the group with Rollins and Murphy.

At one point AOP had been discussed for a spot in a possible RAW Tag Team Titles match at WrestleMania 36, but that idea was nixed due to the injury to Rezar. As noted earlier in this new report on WrestleMania changes and plans, WWE also discussed champions The Street Profits vs. Angel Garza and WWE United States Champion Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo, but that idea was also nixed. The red brand tag team titles match at WrestleMania will be Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins defending against Andrade and Garza.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Announces Authors Of Pain Have Been Officially Signed To RAW

WWE announced that the Authors of Pain have been signed to RAW. WWE announced it with a video explaining the two powerhouse wrestlers have been signed to RAW after “extended negotiations with both USA Network and FOX amid rumors of their return to the MMA world.”

AOP Returned To WWE RAW In A Vignette And Issued A Strong Warning To The WWE Tag Team Division (Video)

Last night’s WWE RAW featured a new vignette with The Authors of Pain, Akam and Rezar, re-introducing themselves as they prepare to return to the storylines.

“My name is Rezar,” the promo began.

“My name is Akam,” he continued.

“Together we’re known as AOP, The Authors of Pain.”

“No one has seen us in a match since before WrestleMania.”

“There’s a very good reason for that. We haven’t had one match since before WrestleMania.”

“We’re fighters. We’ve been fighting our whole lives. We earn money by fighting.”

“That’s the problem. We come here to fight and everyone complains we’re hurting them in the ring.”

“Neither one of us could make a living in mixed martial arts because no one wanted to fight us and now we come to WWE and no one wants to fight us.”

“Every tag team in WWE is soft. None of you are men. None of you are hard enough to fight us.”

“None of you have the heart to fight us.”

“None of you have the manhood to step up to us.”

“This is a warning. You give us the opportunity we earned. Or we’ll take the opportunity we earned.”

“We are the future of the WWE tag team division.”

“And that future will be written in pain.”

AOP returned to live event action at a SmackDown show in early July, losing to the team of Ali and Matt Hardy. They had been away for several months while Akam recovered from a knee injury, but they returned to the ring at WWE Super ShowDown in June, to compete in the 50-Man Battle Royal. Rezar did work some WWE Main Event matches while Akam was out. It looks like AOP will no longer be working with 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick. It was reported in late August that WWE almost brought AOP back for a Tag Team Turmoil match, but it looks like they delayed the return for a slower build. There’s no word yet on when they will return to the RAW ring.

Source: Wrestling Inc.