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WWE
The Authors of Pain and Paul Ellering have reportedly been released by WWE. Following the departure of Cedric Alexander earlier on Friday, it was reported by PWInsider's Mike Johnson and Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp that AOP and Ellering had joined him on their way out of the company; they had been aligned with Karrion Kross as part of The Final Testament, notably defeating the Wyatt Sicks on "WWE Raw" in December, and last appearing on the January 2 "WWE Main Event" with a win over Latino World Order's Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro.
AOP and Ellering returned for their latest run in WWE during January last year, shaping The Final Testament around Kross and Scarlett. While news of their departures is fresh, AOP and Ellering have been absent of late with Kross featuring on "Raw" by himself. Reporting further on the matter via Fightful Select, SRS noted that AOP had come into WWE with heat due some of their outside projects, and it had been noted that may be why they were put with Kross – who is generally well-liked – in the first place. It was said they insisted Ellering join them in returning, and many saw it as a "rough omen" that they hadn't appeared recently. There was reportedly no creative plans for them beyond the win over the Wyatt Sicks.
With their departure comes the end of AOP's second run with WWE, having initially started in "WWE NXT" in 2016, winning the NXT Tag Team Championship before joining "WWE Raw" and later winning the brand-exclusive tag titles in 2018. Ellering served as their manager until after their main-roster call up, with them later aligning with Seth Rollins before their 2020 release. AOP have only ever wrestled under the WWE umbrella.

