The former Authors Of Pain are ready to make a statement in their return to the ring this weekend.
Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa, formerly known as the Authors Of Pain / AOP and now calling themselves the Legion Of Pain, will be teaming together for the first time in more than two years as they are scheduled to compete at the debut event for Wrestling Entertainment Series. The duo spoke with WrestleZone about their hiatus from wrestling, as well as why it was the right time to return.
Gzim: “To be honest, me and Sunny, after WWE, we needed some time off. We needed some time with our families. And we always stayed in good contact, but for us, it felt like if we were coming back to wrestling, it had to be something bigger than real life. So something that, you know, like WWE, they say it’s bigger than real life, it legit is. So if we wanted to come back, it was gonna be something, either something big or we wouldn’t come back to wrestling at all, to be honest. And we just started brainstorming a little bit after our NFT project, BullApePlanet, thinking about our comeback in wrestling and discussing it with business partners of ours, and it just felt like the right time, the right thing to do.
“We were focused on the Middle-Eastern market at first. Our scheduled event was supposed to be June 4 in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but unfortunately due to the passing of [United Arab Emirates’ President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan] it got postponed. At first, we decided to make it June 4 in the UK, it was the only area available at the time, so that was also the reason why we went to Nottingham. It was a decision we all made. It’s of course still our main goal to focus on the Middle-Eastern market but also worldwide, so that’s a little bit how we got to this promotion. And of course, we had a lot of offers after our WWE release and stuff like that. But we just kept it quiet and felt like if we’re coming back, we’re coming back harder than ever, and it’s gonna be with Paul Ellering as well.”
Ain’t Done Yet Bitches…. @AlbanianPsycho @PaulElleringWWE #prowrestling pic.twitter.com/9kj8yAVGHQ
— Sunny Dhinsa / Akam (@SunnyDhinsa) June 10, 2021
Before the event and return match was announced, both Selmani and Dhinsa commented on rumors of their alleged retirement from the ring, responding with a photo of themselves (and Paul Ellering during their Authors Of Pain run) giving the middle finger along with the caption, “Ain’t done yet, bitches…” Asked how they initially reacted to people speculating that they were done, LOP said that they just wanted to put people on notice and shared some of the inspiration for the original photo.
Sunny: “It was one of those things where we just wanted to make it clear that we do everything on our accord. Nobody’s telling us to retire, nobody’s telling us to be done. But then in that case, we said hey, we’re not done yet because we can possibly do anything we want still. If we want to fight professionally, we can fight professionally. If we want to wrestle professionally, we can wrestle professionally. We can do pretty much any single thing we want. So that was basically it. There’s a lot of news circulating that hey, they retired, they’re just living normal lives. Yeah, we’re living normal lives now, but at the same time, we can still go back and beat anybody’s ass in that ring. So that’s what that was.”
Gzim: “We actually made a picture and we had a feeling that the three of us wouldn’t last together too long inside of WWE because at WarGames we already, the talks were there for us to go up [to the main roster]. And we made that picture just in case we ever would need it and I think this was the right time to release that picture.”
Who is ready to see The Legion Of Pain back with Paul Ellering after two years? Get your tickets now @nottinghamarena for July 9th or pre-order your PPV on @fitetv !!! @SunnyDhinsa @AlbanianPsycho pic.twitter.com/LByeOyAY4i
— Wrestling Entertainment Series (@wesofficialtv) June 27, 2022
The WES event also marks the first time in four years that they’ve worked with Paul Ellering, their manager during the Authors Of Pain’s run in NXT. Asked what it means to not only get back together but have Ellering’s blessing for their new name, Sunny and Gzim expressed their appreciation for Ellering having their backs.
Sunny: “It’s huge. Paul’s been a blessing to us since day one, and we cherish every moment we get to spend with him. So we’re excited, and Paul, as far as the name goes, it’s Paul’s idea and we loved it, and we’re just excited to be back, having the band back together and hitting the road. We’re very, very, very fortunate to have Paul in our corner, and Paul’s been down with us since day one, and he’s down with every decision we’ve ever made, and we all respect each other as individuals, and he’s a legend. Who wouldn’t want a legend to have their back? And we’re happy.”
Rezar: “We were always on the same page as well, right, even know we didn’t agree with the decision of Vince taking Paul away at our debut, but it was Paul’s decision to keep going and not to interfere with [Vince’s] decision of having Paul leave us. So it was like a little bit of a hard moment for us, of course, but it was Paul’s decision to have us keep doing our thing, and he said our time will come again to get back together, and he was right.”
Wrestling Entertainment Series‘ debut event takes place on Saturday, July 9 at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. Moose, MMA star Alistair Overeem, the Legion Of Pain (fka Authors Of Pain), Steph de Lander (Persia Pirotta), Samuray del Sol (Kalisto), Dean Muhtadi (Mojo Rawley), Damo Mackle (Killian Dain) and more are advertised for the lineup. IMPACT’s Tom Hannifan is also scheduled to be on commentary for the event.
Read More: AOP Say Their Release Came After WWE Pitched An Angle They Were Uncomfortable With
