WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering Was Supposed to Reunite With The Authors of Pain Before the Pandemic

When The Authors of Pain first arrived on NXT back in mid-2016 the pair had WWE Hall of Famer Paul [...]

When The Authors of Pain first arrived on NXT back in mid-2016 the pair had WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering working as their manager. Ellering's decades of managerial work combined with his menacing presence meshed perfectly with Akam and Rezar's devastating moveset, and together the trio ran roughshod over the tag division by winning the NXT Tag Team Championships and the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. However when the pair were brought up to the Raw roster WWE's creative team decided Ellering wasn't needed as part of the act. At one point they tried having Drake Maverick play the same role, but that eventually fellow through.

On a recent episode of the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast Ellering revealed that WWE had plans to reunite the trio earlier this year. But between the coronavirus pandemic and Rezar suffering a torn tricep those plans were shelved. Prior to Rezar's injury the pair had been working as enforcers for Seth Rollins at the start of his "Monday Night Messiah" gimmick.

"The idea was to bring me back in, but then this Corona stuff came up," Ellering said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). "Then the guys got hurt and they were out a while, so everything got put on the back shelf and I don't know where it sits now."

He also spoke incredibly highly of the pair, saying, "After I met Rezar and Akam, the Authors of Pain, then I knew I wanted to do it because they are two terrific young men. The best of the best. I wanted to do it to help them. We had a good run for 2 years. It was fun. I really enjoyed being around all the young people there. I would fly down for TV and maybe an extra date to do interviews so I never had to be on the road."

Do you think the three should be reunited once Rezar is healthy and the pandemic is over? Let us know in the comments!

WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view takes place this Sunday. Check out the full card below:

  • WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
  • WWE Universal Championship: Braun Strowman vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
  • Raw Women's Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Asuka
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Bayley vs. Asuka
  • United States Championship: Apollo Crews vs. MVP
  • Raw Tag Team Championship: The Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza
  • Street Fight: Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Hair vs. Hair Match: Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville
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