Backstage News on Paul Ellering’s Future with WWE & Potentially Being Brought Back to NXT TV

While most fans were hyped to see The Authors of Pain finally make their debuts on the WWE main roster, one casualty in the transition was their Hall of Fame manager Paul Ellering, who was inexplicably left behind.

During today’s NXT Takeover conference call with Triple H, the black-and-yellow brand leader provided a potential update on Ellering’s status, and the door is definitely open for the two sides to work together again in the future.

According to The Game, when the decision was made to bring up The Authors of Pain he took Paul aside and informed him that WWE was looking for something new, but didn’t want to pull the trigger immediately because it would “come across as a substitution”.

“I love what Paul did for us in NXT. I loved him being a part of the brand. He was great to have around, and talent really likes having him around for his insight and everything else. And he really did add something to AOP, both as characters on the show, but also [backstage]. I told him then, ‘I want to look for something else, I want to look for the right thing, and when I have it I’ll give you a ring. If you’re still free and available, I’d love to do it.’”

Ellering, 64, made his debut as a wrestler in the mid 1970s but transitioned into a managerial role in the ’80s due to a career-ending knee injury. He became famous as the manager for the Road Warriors, both in the ring and outside of it. His name also became synonymous with the WarGames concept from ’87-89 when the NWA toured the gimmick around the country as a specialty match for the Four Horsemen, usually against some incarnation of the Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Sting and Nikita Koloff.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 alongside the Road Warriors, and returned to the company in 2016 as the manager for The Authors of Pain during their NXT television debut. He is unique in the fact that he has managed multiple tag teams across multiple generations, that have won championships for WWE, NXT, WCW, NWA, AWA, Jim Crockett, Georgia Championship Wrestling and All Japan.

You can hear Triple H’s full comments in the video above, starting at the 30:45 mark.