Road Warrior Animal Says He Feels Sorry For NXT Manager

One person isn’t a fan. The Authors of Pain have taken NXT by storm over the last several months and won the NXT Tag Team Titles earlier this year at “Takeover: San Antonio”. The team is managed by Paul Ellering, who used to guide the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom. However, one of his former proteges isn’t thrilled with the partnership.

Road Warrior Animal was a guest on the “Pancackes and Powerslams” podcast where he discussed Ellering managing the Authors of Pain. It turns out that Animal isn’t the biggest fan of the team and the pairing due to the comparisons they’ll draw to the Road Warriors. Here are his comments with transcription courtesy of wrestlinginc.com:

“I talk to Paul all the time. 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].”

Opinion: Animal is on to something here but I don’t think anyone is expecting the Authors of Pain to be one of the most dominant teams of all time. More importantly than that though, it’s not like there are a ton of teams like them today. Back in the Road Warriors’ days you had Demolition and the Powers of Pain among others, all of whom had similar looks and styles. Ellering is going to draw some comparisons but the team isn’t quite like Animal and Hawk.

Do you think Animal is right on the team? Are the Road Warriors the best team ever? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: “Pancakes and Powerslams” podcast