Former WWE Superstars The Authors of Pain have announced the launch of their new wrestling promotion, Wrestling Entertainment Series, with a debut event scheduled for 4 June.
Sunny Dhinsa and Gzim Selmani – the former Akam and Rezar, respectively – have surprised many by confirming the launch of their own wrestling promotion. The company, titled Wrestling Entertainment Series, will premiere with their first event on Saturday, 4 June from Nottingham, England’s Motorpoint Arena.
Although no additional in-ring talent has yet been confirmed for the event, a press release issued has stated “some of the biggest names in professional wrestling will all be announced very soon”. Additional dates are set to be announced throughout 2022, with events planned in Europe and the Middle East.
WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering, who had managed the former Authors of Pain during their time in NXT, is due to be at the event as he manages the duo. This will be Dhinsa and Selmani’s first in-ring outing since the 9 March 2020 broadcast of Raw (h/t Figure Four Online):
“WES will also see the in-ring return of the Selmani & Dhinsa with legendary manager Paul Ellering by their side. The duo is set to re-establish themselves as one of the most dominant forces in the tag team wrestling division.”
The Authors of Pain were released from their WWE contracts in September 2020, though they’d been absent from WWE programming for months before this owing to an injury suffered by Rezar. The former Raw and NXT Tag Team Champions had previously been aligned with Seth Rollins and Murphy.
Fightful Select reported at the start of May that the duo were planning a return to in-ring competition, though didn’t specify where or when, exactly, The Authors of Pain would resurface. They had reportedly began reaching out to talent to compete on WES’ debut event, with Dubai noted as the targeted location.
It had previously been reported that The Authors of Pain had both retired, but Sunny and Gzim rebutted these claims. Their names had been brought up to the respective management teams of All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but neither considered the option a good fit for the time being.