"We just don’t feel comfortable doing it" - AOP detail reason for their WWE release
The surprising release of AOP sent shockwaves through the WWE Universe.
The duo had been featured on both RAW and NXT, as they won the tag titles on both brands. But the company let both men go on September 4, 2020.
The Authors of Pain, Akam and Rezar, were the latest guests on The Sessions with Renee Paquette to discuss a variety of subjects. When asked about their WWE release, Akam revealed it came after AOP told the company they weren't comfortable doing a certain storyline.
"The pandemic started, and at the time, like everyone was super uncertain about what was going on, because I was living in Canada in Vancouver at the time, so I was flying back and forth," said Akam. "Then the borders shut, so I couldn’t do that anymore. Gzim [Rezar] hadn’t been home in two years at the time. He was worried about his own family because the whole world was getting shut down. People were getting sick left, right, and center. WWE had approached us with something different that they wanted us to do. and we were just like, ‘Hey, man, we just don’t feel comfortable doing it. At the time, that was the best decision for us."
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Akam believes AOP not wanting to do a certain storyline led to their WWE release
Regarding the particular storyline that AOP didn't want to participate in, Akam said he didn't really want to go into detail. But he elaborated on how their place on the WWE RAW card changed following Rezar's bicep injury.
"I’d rather not [go into details] it was something in the company, obviously," Akam said. "But at the time, we were working with Seth, we’re working on top and we had this huge storyline. But at the time, Gzim had just gotten hurt. He tore his bicep. I think that was the last Raw before all the restrictions went in and then we went without a crowd, I believe and he’d just torn it. The whole time was coming back and just doing what we were doing before, and what had happened was he came back after four months and the script had completely changed and what they wanted us to do, at the time, we weren’t really comfortable doing."
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What do you make of Akam's comments? What do you think WWE wanted AOP to do? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
Thanks to WrestleZone for the transcription of this podcast.