5 Times WWE Tried To Revive The Legion Of Doom
1. The Authors Of Pain
Sunny Dhinsa and Gzim Selmani might be lacking in spikes, shoulder pads, and face paint, but they share many similarities with the Legion of Doom. From their brutish smashmouth style to their pissed-off demeanour, and the small matter of their Paul Ellering affiliation, The Authors of Pain almost became a new age LOD.
News broke on July 10th that WWE had filed a trademark application for the “Legion of Doom” name, and it seemed an obvious tie-in with NXT’s newest tag team, who debuted with Ellering at Takeover: The End. The application was dropped just a few days later, however, but while The Authors won’t officially fly the LOD flag, it’s there in spirit.
Ellering is an interesting case. He found great success as LOD’s loudmouth manager throughout the 1980’s, but didn’t join them in WWE until 1992. Getting-off to a terrible start with Rocco, the ventriloquist dummy, Ellering soon disappeared, but returned to deal further damage to his popularity with a 1998 return with The Disciples of Apocalypse in their feud against LOD.
Now he finds himself under WWE employ for the first time in close to two decades, and while it’s wrong to expect The Authors of Pain to live-up to Hawk & Animal’s lofty standards, Ellering and his charges are in a great spot.
NXT’s tag scene continues to grow around the uber-athletic American Alpha and throwback champions The Revival, and the monstrous Authors are in a lane of their own. There’s no tag team quite like them throughout WWE’s talent pool, and if Dhinsa and Selmani have the skills, Ellering can lead them to excellence.