Akam and Rezar first teamed up in June 2016, paired with manager Paul Ellering in WWE's thendevelopmental leagueNXT. They won theDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2016, leading to them winning the NXT Tag Team Championship. In April 2018, Akam and Rezar were promoted to theRaw brand, withDrake Maverick taking over as their manager and the team's name officially shortened to AOP. AOP took a hiatus in early 2019 and returned later that year, but without Maverick as their manager and later becoming enforcers toSeth Rollins until their release from the company in September 2020. They re-signed with WWE in 2023, and made their televised return in January 2024, once again aligning themselves with Ellering, as well as withKarrion Kross andScarlett starting a stable called The Final Testament until their second release from the company the following year.
On June 15 episode ofNXT, Dhinsa and Selmani, now going by the ring names of Akam andRezar respectively, and the team officially named the Authors of Pain won their first televised match and were accompanied by Ellering.[2] On November 19, the duo won the 2016Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, defeatingTM-61 in the tournament final atNXT TakeOver: Toronto. On the January 11, 2017 episode ofNXT, they assaulted#DIY (Johnny Gargano andTommaso Ciampa) after they retained the NXT Tag Team Championship against The Revival.[3] AtNXT TakeOver: San Antonio, they won theNXT Tag Team Championship by defeating #DIY.[4] On the March 1 episode ofNXT, The Authors of Pain defended their titles against #DIY in a rematch, which ended in a no contest after The Revival interfered and attacked both teams. They retained the titles atNXT TakeOver: Orlando by both defeating #DIY and The Revival in atriple threat elimination match after eliminating both teams.[5] AtNXT TakeOver: Chicago, the duo participated in the first-everladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championship against #DIY, which they won.[6]
On the July 26 episode ofNXT, the two were set to compete, but their opponents were attacked bySAnitY before the match began. They then brawled withAlexander Wolfe andKillian Dain, disposing of the two before a staredown.[7] Two weeks later, SAnitY called out The Authors of Pain, who were attacked byEric Young as they made their way down the ramp. Young zip-tied Rezar to the barricade, allowing SAnitY to beat down Akam. Rezar eventually made his way to the ring, but was ultimately attacked as well.[8] AtNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, The Authors of Pain lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to SAnitY, who were represented by Wolfe and Young after the latter replaced Killian Dain mid-match, marking their first loss in NXT.[9] AtNXT TakeOver: WarGames, the Authors of Pain turnedface as they teamed withRoderick Strong in aWarGames match against SAnitY andThe Undisputed Era (Adam Cole,Kyle O'Reilly, andBobby Fish), who won the match. AtNXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, The Authors of Pain unsuccessfully challenged The Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Team Championship. AoP again challenged The Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Team Championship in atriple threat match also involving the team of Strong andWWE United Kingdom ChampionPete Dunne atNXT TakeOver: New Orleans, but lost. This would be their final match in NXT.
On the April 9 episode ofRaw, The Authors of Pain, along with Paul Ellering, made their main roster debut as heels, defeatingHeath Slater and Rhyno.[10] After the match, Akam and Rezar ended their partnership with Ellering by pushing him away and leaving him ringside as they returned backstage.[11] The Authors of Pain entered a brief feud with Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil andApollo Crews), defeating them on the August 20 episode ofRaw to end their feud.[12] On the September 3 episode ofRaw, The Authors of Pain, now under the shortened name of AOP, were accompanied to the ring byDrake Maverick, who announced himself as their new manager.[13]
On the November 5 episode ofRaw, AOP defeatedSeth Rollins in ahandicap match to win theRaw Tag Team Championship.[14][15] AtSurvivor Series, they defeatedSmackDown Tag Team ChampionsThe Bar in an interbrand match.[16][17] The following night onRaw, AOP suffered an upset loss to the team ofBobby Roode andChad Gable, marking their first loss on the main roster.[18] On the December 10 episode of Raw, they lost their tag titles to Roode and Gable in a three-on-two handicap match that also involved their manager Maverick, ending their reign at 35 days.[19] After this, the team went on hiatus due to Akam having knee surgery in January 2019.[20] Maverick would subsequently go in his own direction, maintaining his duties as the205 LiveGeneral Manager and then chasing after the24/7 Championship introduced in May.[21] AOP returned during the 51-ManBattle Royal atSuper ShowDown on June 7, but they were both eliminated during the match.[22]
On the September 16 episode ofRaw, AOP, without Maverick, returned in a vignette, where they called out the tag team division for being soft and weak and announced their intentions of returning.[23] The following week, they would attackHeath Slater andNo Way Jose backstage.[24] During the2019 WWE draft, AOP went undrafted, becoming free agents and able to choose which brand to sign with, however, three days after the draft's conclusion, AOP signed with Raw to remain on the brand.[25]
After they made their in-ring return on the November 25 episode ofRaw, they allied withSeth Rollins and later,Buddy Murphy.[26][27][28] There final appearance was on the March 9 episode ofRaw.[29][30] On March 10, Rezar suffered a bicep injury, putting the team on hiatus.[31] On September 4, both Akam and Rezar were released from their WWE contract.[32][33]
In May 2022, Sunny Dhinsa and Gzim Selmani, now known asLegion of Pain, announced the launch of their professional wrestling promotion, Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES). The promotion's first event was booked for June, but it was delayed until July until it was cancelled. The promotion stated that several wrestlers wouldn't appear as the reason.[34]Nia Jax andAiden English, who were booked to appear on the show, criticized the promotion.[35]
On February 7, 2025, the Authors of Pain were once again released from their WWE contracts, along with their manager, Paul Ellering, ending their second tenure.[48]
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