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Authors of Pain recently recalled their time with managers Paul Ellering and Drake Maverick.
AOP hasn't been seen in the ring ever since 2020. During their NXT run, they captured the tag team gold under the management of Paul Ellering. When they made their transition to RAW in 2018, AOP was under the supervision of Drake Maverick.
During a guesting with Lucha Libre Online, they were asked about their experience with both men. AOP expressed their gratitude to Ellering and said they didn't even know he was going to be their manager:
"It was great, it was really good. It clicked as well, really well. We were first of all very grateful for him to become our manager, right? We had no clue he was gonna become our manager until the day before actually. Not even until the last second because we never got the confirmation that he was gonna be our manager." (from 13:30 to 13:43)
The AOP added that they were asked to visit the performance center, where they wrestled each other with Ellering watching them, who eventually joined the stable:
"We saw him the day prior because, Matt Bloom, the head coach at the time, he texted us and he said, 'Yo come to the performance center, we want to get you guys in the ring a little.' We were just wrestling each other, and he just looked at us from a distance for like five minutes and I guess he liked what he saw and he made the decision to come join us." (from 13:53 to 14:14)
Paul Ellering is a WWE Hall of Famer who feuded with the likes of Jerry "The King" Lawler before retiring from in-ring action in 1983.
Authors of Pain think Drake Maverick was a completely different character
During their time with WWE, the former NXT Tag Team Champions also Drake Maverick as their manager when they moved to RAW. Speaking about Maverick, the duo said that despite him being a different character, it was still a special time:
"We had Darke Maverick later on, completely different, right? A comedian instead of a serious manager. But it was special as well, it was really special, it was really good." (from 14:39 to 14:48)
There have been reports of tag team partners returning to wrestling this year. If the former superstars plan to be active again, maybe they'll have another manager by their side, if not Ellering or Maverick.
Would you be interested in an Authors Of Pain return and one of their former managers? Sound off in the comments below!
If you use any transcriptions from this article, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.
