Former WWE Tag Team Reportedly Planning on Wrestling Return
It looks like a former WWE Tag Team might be on the way back to the ring, as a report from Fight Select says that the Authors of Pain are planning to return to the ring. AOP was made up of Akam (Sunny Dhinsa) and Rezar (Gzim Selmani), and it's been some time since they've wrestled, as the last time they both were in the ring was over 26 months ago. They were released by WWE in 2020, and since then have given indications of retiring and not being active, but the duo has reached out to talent about an upcoming wrestling event.
According to the report they've reached out to talent about an event they plan on running in early June in Dubai. Sources say the two are planning to wrestle at the event as well, and one source said "I'm not sure how often they'll be wrestling, but they're planning to do this one."
We'll have to wait and see if they end up jumping into the ring full time after the upcoming event, but they are still in their 20s, so if they do decide to ramp up their in-ring appearances, we could end up seeing a whole new era of dominance from the duo.
It's understandable why many assumed they weren't going to be wrestling anymore, as previously a reporter reached out to Rezar for an interview and was told "I'm not a wrestler anymore." Then a promoter that attempted to book them for an event was told they had retired. Since then Akam, Rezar, and manager Paul Ellering indicated they "weren't done yet", but until now there hasn't been any movement regarding returning to the ring.
AOP debuted in NXT in 2016, and later that year they would win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, defeating TM-61. They would then win the NXT Tag Team Championships after defeating DIY, and defend them several times before ultimately losing them to SAnitY. They would then move to Raw in 2018, and would eventually align with Seth Rollins, but they were released in 2020.
