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Two of WWE's biggest free agent dominoes have fallen, as The Authors of Pain have officially been announced as members of Monday Night RAW. McKenzie Mitchell made the announcement during a news-packed clip of WWE Now on Twitter.
Bringing the Pain
The Authors of Pain have been out of action since early 2019, as Akam was nursing an injury. The duo returned as part of the 50-man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown this past June and have been seen in vignettes since.
The WWE Draft passed with Akam and Rezar being left off of both RAW and SmackDown. The tandem being left out of the draft was curious considering they were both healthy and had been featured in various video packages claiming that other WWE tag teams were soft.
RAW ended up with The OC, The Street Profits, current Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders, and the team of Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. SmackDown landed the services of The New Day, current Tag Team Champions The Revival, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, The B-Team, and Lucha House Party.
While both SmackDown and RAW had already drafted plenty of talent, AOP would have greatly improved either tag team division.
Akam and Rezar let their draft frustrations out in a post-draft promo. In the video, they claimed that both brands were scared to add AOP. Readers may watch that here.
RAW's tag teams are put on notice
The Red brand's eclectic tag team roster make it unique compared to previous tag team divisions. In the recent past, either The New Day, The Bar, The Usos, or The Revival had been anchors of their respective division.
With both The Revival and The New Day on SmackDown, The Bar disbanded, and The Usos on hiatus, WWE's post-draft landscape offers up the chance for some newer teams to make their mark. The Viking Raiders, The Street Profits, and now AOP represent the future.
The inevitable hoss match between AOP and The Viking Raiders was already teased at Super ShowDown with a stare down between both teams in the middle of the ring. Hopefully no one gets hurt going forward.
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