5 Things you did not know about WWE tag team AOP

#3 Akam turned down competing in the Olympics in favor of signing with WWE

AOP with Drake Maverick

Akam attended Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, and was an accomplished amateur wrestler.

In the heavyweight category, Akam was the Canadian national freestyle wrestling Champion in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and at the Canada Summer Games in 2009 he won a gold medal in the 115 kg category. Akam also won the silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara.

In 2012, Akam participated in the qualification trials for the Summer Olympics, but lost a match to Dremiel Byers and was not selected for the Games.

In 2016, Akam was considered a prospect for the Summer Olympics, but instead chose to accept an offer from WWE in 2014, effectively ending his career as an amateur wrestler. Akam was scouted for a possible WWE career by Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco, and Brisco's work ended up landing Akam a contract offer to join the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

Upon arriving in WWE, Akam was not initially paired up with Rezar, and made his in-ring debut at an NXT house show in Orlando, Florida on April 4th, 2015. Akam competed in a battle royal match which ended up being won by current WWE SmackDown Live Tag Team Champion Scott Dawson.