[3] He was considered a prospect for the 2016 Summer Olympics but left amateur wrestling after being offered a contract with WWE in 2014, having been scouted for the company by Gerald Brisco.

He made his in-ring debut at a NXT house show in Orlando, Florida on April 4, 2015, competing in a battle royal, which was won by Scott Dawson.

The duo retained the titles at NXT TakeOver: Orlando (by defeating #DIY and The Revival in a triple threat tag team elimination match by eliminating both teams) and NXT TakeOver: Chicago (by defeating #DIY) in a ladder match to retain the titles.

On the April 9 episode of Raw, The Authors of Pain, along with Ellering, made their main roster debut, defeating Heath Slater and Rhyno.

[18] According to a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful on August 30, 2023, the Authors of Pain had re-signed with WWE in 2022 prior to the return of Vince McMahon as chairman in January 2023 and they were on the internal travel list as of May 2023.

[19][20] During the December 22, 2023 episode of SmackDown, Akam and Rezar were shown in a vignette by Karrion Kross to join him and are set to return in the coming weeks.

[21] On SmackDown: New Year's Revolution, Akam, alongside Rezar and Paul Ellering made their televised return and assisted Karrion Kross and Scarlett in attacking Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford), confirming their alliance in the process.

[22] AOP made their return to the ring on February 16 edition of SmackDown where they faced NXT talents Beau Morris and Javier Bernal in a squash match.

[26] At Week 2 of Spring Breakin', Akam and Rezar was unsuccessful at winning the NXT Tag Team Champions from Axiom and Nathan Frazer after interference from New Catch Republic.