Authors of Pain Akam and Rezar Released from WWE Contracts

WWE released both members of the Authors of Pain tag team, Akam and Rezar. 

The pair hadn't wrestled since the March 9 edition of Raw, when they teamed with Murphy and Rollins in a win over The Street Profits and Viking Raiders.

Rezar suffered a torn right biceps, which forced him and Akam off television.

The Authors of Pain debuted at NXT TakeOver: The End in June 2016, attacking American Alpha following their defeat to The Revival. 

They proceeded to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic that November before claiming the NXT tag titles at TakeOver: San Antonio in January 2017. Their reign lasted 202 days, the third-longest in NXT history.

The air steadily went out of their balloon the moment they appeared on the main roster for the first time in April 2018. Akam and Rezar ditched manager Paul Ellering, indicating they were going to go about it on their own.

Ellering was a perfect fit because he could do all of the talking for the team. Older fans familiar with Ellering's time as the manager for the Road Warriors knew to immediately see the Authors of Pain as a serious threat as well.

The dreadful state of WWE's tag division did Akam and Rezar few favors. AOP had a brief run with the Raw tag team titles toward the end of 2018, which provided little boost because the belts have been marginalized so much.

Aligning with Rollins had the potential to be really good because they were great enforcers for the Monday Night Messiah. But even that couldn't last because of Rezar's injury.