For several months now, there have been reports that Akam and Rezar, known collectively as The Authors Of Pain, could be headed back to WWE. PWInsider reported in August that there were internal talks of bringing the former WWE tag team back to the company along with their long-time manager Paul Ellering. Fightful later followed up with their own report, with sources claiming to the outlet that the duo have, in fact, been re-signed since 2022 and were even part of an internal travel list in May earlier this year.
Almost three months have come and gone without any signs of AOP’s return but now a new report has not only hinted they could be back imminently but also that an NXT faction could be headed to the main roster soon as well. WrestleVotes reports that the program for Survivor Series tomorrow night features Akam and Rezar as well as Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang of Gallus, suggesting that AOP are likely returning to WWE programming whilst Gallus may be main roster-bound in the near future.
The Authors Of Pain have not been seen in WWE since both its members were released on September 4th, 2020. During their four years with the company, the duo mainly found success on NXT, where they won the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and went on to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. Less than two years after their debut, AOP debuted on Raw, where they had a short reign with the Raw Tag Team Championship and were most notably paired up with Seth Rollins in early 2020.
Gallus, meanwhile, has been an established faction in both NXT and the now-defunct NXT UK for almost five years. The Scottish group’s success has mainly stemmed from Mark Coffey and Wolfgang as a tag team, who held the NXT Tag Team Championship for five months earlier this year as well as becoming the longest-reigning NXT UK Tag Team Champions in history with their reign spanning 2019, 2020 and 2021.