WWE Raw just got a big shot in the arm for their tag team division.
The duo of AOP, formerly known as the Authors of Pain, have been confirmed as joining the WWE Raw roster as free agents. On a Thursday episode of WWE Now, McKenzie Mitchell said that the two had extended negotiations with USA Network and Fox, and "amid rumors of a return to the MMA world." Rezar is a Bellator MMA veteran, but that statement was completely in story line, and there was no real discussions of an MMA return. In a vignette this week, AOP said that neither network wanted to deal with the backlash of signing them.
AOP have been almost completely absent from WWE programming all year. After being brought up to Raw in 2018, AOP weren't used until Drake Maverick was slotted as their manager, where they became Raw Tag Team Champions.
However, AOP have only had seven matches together in all of 2019. After losing the tag team titles, Akam sustained an injury in early January, and didn't return until the WWE Super Showdown 2019 battle Royal. Neither have wrestled on TV since, or at all since July.
Weeks ago, vignettes began airing featuring Akam and Rezar cutting promos in their respective languages. They went undrafted by either brand over the past week.
You can see Fightful's updated WWE roster at this link.
