Below are some top AEW & WWE news stories of the day, involving Teddy Long and The Authors Of Pain.
• During an interview on the Wrestling Time Machine, WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long revealed how an AEW employee disrespected him once:
“I won’t say who told me. But, do you know, one of the guys that worked there had the nerve to walk up to me, now I didn’t ask for this and told me, ‘Oh by the way, AEW told me to let you know that we’re not hiring any old people’.
I swear. They walked up to me out of the blue. I didn’t ask for that. I’m not asking nobody for a job there. But this is what this guy walked up and told me.”
• Former NXT & RAW Tag Team Champions Authors of Pain aka AOP (Akam and Rezar), formerly managed by Paul Ellering, experienced success in NXT but faced inconsistent pushes on the main roster before being released in 2020.
Despite rumors of their WWE contract since 2022 and talks about a return, it has not materialized.
However, they are finally coming back, as their return was teased in a Karrion Kross vignette on last night’s SmackDown. It looks like AOP will join forces with Kross to form a new faction.
According to PWInsider, AOP and Ellering are scheduled to return on the January 5th “New Year’s Revolution” edition of SmackDown.
So far, WWE has officially announced the following for the first SmackDown of 2024:
– Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles (Winner will face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2024)
– Kevin Owens vs. Santos Escobar in the #1 Contenders tournament final (Winner will face Logan Paul for the United States Championship at Royal Rumble 2024)
– IYO SKY (c) vs. “Michin” Mia Yim for the WWE Women’s Championship
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