New Details On AOP's WWE Releases
The latest on why Akam and Rezar were let go from WWE.
The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online have come through with a new report on AOP, whom WWE released out of the blue last week, seemingly cutting the burly duo while Rezar was injured.
This wasn't the case. Per the story, Rezar had already recovered from a biceps injury suffered in March that was supposed to keep him sidelined for up to eight months. WWE ensured Rezar been given a clean bill of health before letting him and partner Akam go.
It is reported that former Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman was the driving force behind a potential push for AOP as a top tag team, with the duo likely losing their support within WWE once the ex-ECW man was removed from power a few months ago. Neither AOP member was on television at the time of Bruce Prichard replacing Heyman.
Bringing their old NXT manager Paul Ellering back to television to work with AOP had been suggested prior to the world shutting down. Vince McMahon shot this down, though Akam and Rezar were expected to return to their roles in Seth Rollins' posse upon returning to television. This was abandoned once WWE started teasing a split between Rollins and Murphy.
If bound to standard 90-day non-compete clauses, AOP will not be able to appear for another televised promotion until December 2020.