Road Warrior Animal Says He 'Feels Sorry' For Paul Ellering Managing The Authors Of Pain
The Authors of Pain have ran roughshod through the NXT tag team division since their debut at NXT: The End last June. Since then, they dominated American Alpha, won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, and defeated DIY for the NXT Tag Team Championship.
However, there is one person who does not believe that this resume is very impressive.
When I spoke to Road Warrior Animal at an independent wrestling event recently, he did not have the fondest words to say about the Authors of Pain. In fact, he said that he felt sorry for his former manager Paul Ellering.
"I talk to Paul all the time," Animal said. "I feel bad for him because of that team he's managing. They're green. You gotta start somewhere, but [man]. The only problem is, when you start managing two big guys, everybody's gonna compare them to Hawk and I. It's an unfair comparison. It's like trying to compare a singles guy to Bruno Sammartino. You can't. Bruno is Bruno. The Rock's the Rock. They'll never be another Rock. They'll never be another Road Warriors ever. That's the problem [WWE] is having now in the company. They [also] have the Ascension coming out, and the Ascension are [trying to be like the Road Warriors]."
Animal finds Ellering managing the Authors of Pain to be a negative comparison to managing the Road Warriors. In his eyes, the WWE is trying to recapture the moment of a dominant big man tag team, and using Ellering as the conduit to make it happen again. Thankfully, for the Authors of Pain, they do not look anything like the Road Warriors. The Ascension, however, is a much stronger comparison.
You can hear the full interview by clicking here.