During the November 5th edition of Monday Night Raw, The Authors of Pain (Akem & Rezar) faced Seth Rollins for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. After coming to the ring to address his current situation with Dean Ambrose, Rollins came to the ring with titles in hand. He also came out to address the Raw Tag Team championship and how he was unable to defend two championships at once. He was then interrupted by Baron Corbin who felt he could defend them, calling for them to be defended on the spot against Drake Maverick‘s Authors of Pain.
In what ultimately resulted in a two-on-one affair, AOP defeated Rollins capturing the titles in the process. The win marks the first WWE Raw Tag Team Championship for the Authors Of Pain and their first championship since capturing the NXT Tag Team Championships when they defeated Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. This win also marks the first time former NXT Tag Team Champions have captured the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. They join the Wyatt Family and American Alpha as only the third NXT Tag Team Champions to capture the tag team championships as part of the main roster.
Akam is a former Canadian born amateur wrestler who represented Canada in the Pan American Games in Men’s freestyle. His partner is the Dutch-born Albanian with a Mixed Martial Arts background in Rezar. Rezar competed for the Bellator MMA promotion. He had a 6-2 record with one win by knockout and three by submission. After the two men signed with the company in 2015, they quickly transitioned from training to in-ring performers to eventual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners and then the NXT Tag Team Champions, but for the most part, the duo’s ascent to the top of the tag team division on the main roster has been nothing short of mediocre. Hopefully, that changes after tonight.
With Paul Ellering at the helm previously and now Drake Maverick as their manager and mouthpiece, the Authors of Pain are now well positioned to lead the Raw Tag Team division moving into the balance of 2018 and into 2019.
