Things just WON’T STOP HAPPENING on the Raw after WrestleMania. Already on Monday night, we’ve seen the main roster debuts of NXT Superstars Ember Moon and No Way Jose, and the returns of Bobby Lashley and Jeff Hardy.
Now we can add one more NXT call-up to the list: former NXT Tag Team Champions and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners the Authors of Pain, Akam and Rezar, along with their manager Paul Ellering, answered an open challenge from Heath Slater and Rhyno, who probably didn’t realize what they were signing up for.
The Authors won in short order with the Last Chapter after demonstrating what made them so fearsome in NXT for so long.
In a bit of a surprise, the AOP appeared to leave Paul Ellering behind them as they departed, seemingly a symbol of them evolving beyond their need for the manager, who has been with them since their NXT television debut. This is, of course, in line with WWE’s general feeling on present-day managers (namely, that they’re not needed), and is probably not THAT shocking considering Ellering is 64 years old and probably not tremendously interested in a full-time travel schedule.
The Authors debuted on NXT in June of 2016. They won that year’s Dusty Classic and captured the tag titles at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio in January 2017. They held the titles for 203 days before losing them to SAnitY in a wild match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III.
