Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com has reported that Sonya Deville and AOP (Akam and Rezar) have been released from WWE. Sapp also noted that “WWE sources claim Paul Ellering has been released” and Ellering’s departure was confirmed by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com. Johnson also reported that Blair Davenport has been released.

According to Johnson, Sonya was informed that WWE would not be renewing her current contract. Johnson added that “when it expires later this month, Deville would be free and clear to perform anywhere as there would not be a 90 day no compete involved.”

AOP made their return to WWE in early 2024 after being released in 2020. Their second run began with a surprise attack on Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits during an episode of Smackdown. AOP, along with Ellering, joined Karrion Kross and Scarlett to form The Final Testament.

Sonya joined WWE in 2015 through the Tough Enough competition, later debuting on the main roster in 2017 as part of the Absolution faction alongside Paige and Mandy Rose. Sonya transitioned into an authority figure role in 2021 before returning to in-ring competition.

The post Sonya Deville, Blair Davenport, AOP, and Paul Ellering are reportedly departing WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Akam: “The pandemic started, and at the time, like everyone was super, super uncertain about what was going on, because I was living in Canada in Vancouver at the time, so I was flying back and forth. Then the borders shut, right. So I couldn’t do that anymore. Gzim [Rezar] hadn’t been home in two years at the time. He was worried about his own family because the whole world was getting shut down. People were getting sick left, right, and center, right? WWE had approached us with something different that they wanted us to do. and we were just like, ‘Hey, man, we just don’t feel comfortable doing it. At the time, that was the best decision for us. We decided to just stay with our families and stay home.”

“I’d rather not [go into details] it was something in the company, obviously. But at the time, if you remember, we were working with Seth, we’re working on top and we had this huge storyline. But at the time, Gzim had just gotten hurt. He tore his bicep. I think that was the last Raw before all the restrictions went in and then we went without a crowd, I believe and he’d just torn it. The whole time was coming back and just doing what we were doing before, and what had happened was he came back after four months and the script had completely changed and what they wanted us to do, at the time, we weren’t really comfortable doing. We’re family, man. I’m an only child. I like taking care of my parents. Gzim’s got a brother and sister but at the same time, he likes taking care of his parents, too. They’re getting older. So I just said, ‘You know what, this is good. I got to stay home and take care of my family. Gzim said, ‘That’s the best decision for me as well.’ Then after that, we didn’t even think about wrestling, you know, all the offers or whatnot, we sat back and we were just like, ’We’re just gonna let this pandemic end,’ and the pandemic never ended.”

Rezar: “Our hearts are still in wrestling. Coming back in this way, we love it a lot. But of course, if everything would have gone well with WWE, we saw ourselves still wrestling for WWE, right? I came back after hurting my bicep. I rehabbed it in three and a half months, like in 14 weeks. it was a double incision, bicep repair. Usually, that’s eight months of rehab. I did it in three and a half months. I went back actually to the WWE office and I told them, ‘I’m ready to go again.’ They said no. I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m just gonna say it here, we shook hands on something really big, and they want didn’t want to follow it up anymore after I got hurt and the pandemic started. So that’s also one of the reasons why me and Sunny [Akam] said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go home,’ right? We decided to get on we’re gonna go home and do our things, man. Because we’re people that if you make a promise, and you shake hands, you have to act on it, or you have to fucking cover promises. Once we feel like somebody doesn’t do that, we cut you off right away. That’s how we are.” (quotes courtesy of WrestleZone.com)

The post The Authors of Pain open up about the end of their run in WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.