6 Ups And 5 Downs From NXT TakeOver: Chicago

Downs...

5. AOP Out Of Their League

Let’s note right away that the ladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championships was pretty good, with plenty of fun spots. And we can acknowledge that the Authors of Pain have been involved in a few pretty good matches during their tenure.

However, it also should be noted that a lot of AOP’s good work has come against superior teams like DIY, TM61 and the Revival. They’re capable of being carried to serviceable and even good matches, but it remains to be seen if they can actually wrestle a quality bout on their own. The ladder match was good because of DIY, not because AOP was adding anything super-special. They were the warm bodies following Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano’s lead.

And look, it’s important that they be able to do that, and that’s not a bad thing. But it’s pretty clear at this point that the Authors aren’t going to be leading a tag team revival of their own anytime soon.