Paul Ellering Denies Travel As Reason For Authors Of Pain Split

TheSportster

By Jim Parsons

Published Apr 15, 2018

When the Authors of Pain debuted on Raw, they were missing their manager, Paul Ellering. Now, he's spoken out on a rumor about his absence.

Via WWE.com

The Authors of Pain were one of many new Superstars to make their debut on the main roster this week. What made their appearance so interesting is that not only were they an anticipated arrival, but after their match with Heath Slater and Rhyno, they effectively dumped their long-time manager.

It might seem odd that the AOP would kick the only manager they've ever known to the curb but part of the speculation as to why this took place was that, in real life, Paul Ellering wasn't interested in the travel schedule that was going to come with their new gig on Raw. If that were the case, it would make sense to move on from him and either put them with someone else or have them run through the tag division alone.

Ellering is not what made the AOP such a dominant force in NXT, thus he's not essential to their success. But, he was connected to teams like The Legion of Doom and has experience managing big and strong teams in WWE. This is not the first time he's been dumped.

Ellering has since commented on his "release" by AOP and denied claims that he didn't want to travel as part of the main roster. In a tweet he sent out on Saturday, he said, "For the record, I love traveling. I have seen this road before. My algorithm for greatness stands the test of time."

If this is true, is there more to this story than WWE has led on? Perhaps Ellering will form another team in an attempt to take down the AOP who he groomed to great success. The alternative could be that he's simply saying goodbye without making it sound like travel is the reason for his dismissal and that his former team has simply tired of him and want to go a new direction.

AOP stands to be one of the bigger and more successful teams on either Raw or SmackDown Live when the Superstar Shake-up comes and goes. It will be interesting to see if they align themselves with another manager or choose to join a faction. Finn Balor has said before that he'd be interested in teaming up with them.

NEXT: FINN BALOR WANTS TO START A FACTION WITH THE AUTHORS OF PAIN