Released WWE duo were unsafe and got worse over time, Stevie Richards says

Stevie Richards worked for WWE between 1999 and 2008. In a recent podcast episode, the former Right to Censor leader gave his honest thoughts on The Authors of Pain (AOP).

On February 7, AOP duo Akam and Rezar were released from WWE alongside manager Paul Ellering. The three men appeared on RAW with Karrion Kross and Scarlett throughout 2024 as members of The Final Testament faction.

Richards said on The Stevie Richards Show that former WWE tag team The Ascension should have been booked better after their main roster call-up in 2014. By contrast, he thinks AOP failed to improve following their return to WWE television in 2024:

"They [The Ascension] were a very talented tag team. They deserved more. AOP was very lateral or they regressed as time went on. They got worse. They seemed like very uncoordinated. They didn't seem safe either." [1:28 – 1:40]

AOP initially worked for WWE between 2016 and 2020. They held the NXT and RAW Tag Team Championships during that time.

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Stevie Richards on AOP's in-ring recklessness

In 1999, Stevie Richards was a WWE Superstar when Darren Drozdov suffered a serious neck injury after receiving a Running Powerbomb from D'Lo Brown in a match. Drozdov, aka Droz, was paralyzed from the neck down and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He passed away in 2023 aged 54.

According to Richards, AOP continued to use moves that felt dangerous, especially their Super Collider double-team which felt especially hazardous to the veteran and reminded him of the Droz and D'Lo Brown incident:

"The Collider, you run these two guys across [the ring], which, by the way, held my breath every time, made me think of D'Lo and Droz. You're running them across and their backs are hitting, and then you're giving them a regular Powerbomb, and then there were other moves they did that were just not safe." [1:46 – 2:03]

WWE released several wrestlers on the same day as AOP, including Blair Davenport and Cedric Alexander. It has also been confirmed that Sonya Deville's contract was not renewed.

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Please credit The Stevie Richards Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.