NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia The Undisputed ERA vs. The Authors of Pain

These teams have some history - they were both in the historic main event of the last TakeOver, for instance - but it still kind of feels like the team they both should be feuding with isn’t here.

AoP lost the titles to SAnitY in Brooklyn, and still haven’t gotten a straight-up rematch. It kind of doesn’t matter now that Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly beat Eric Young’s unit for the tag titles, but still...

Undisputed ERA did run-in on Akam and Rezar’s chance to take the belts from SAnitY, so that’s another piece of history. But now EY, Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe are still owed their rematch against Fish and O’Reilly, because along with Adam Cole, the former reDRagon took them out backstage before that match could go down.

So, yeah.

In the midst of all that, Paul Ellering’s boys made it clear the really wanted the championship back. After taking care of Street Profits, they sent a message with a dismantling of a pair of local talents on last Wednesday’s episode. Undisputed says they’re not concerned, but seeing as they were thrown around the two cage set-up by the big hosses in Houston, they’re probably lying.

Other than a good old-fashioned clash of styles, the focus will be on how AoP is booked, and what that means for their future.

The former champs have come a long way. Their ring work is more than solid, and they’ve even started to take the microphone from their Hall of Fame manager more and more. Once you lose a belt in NXT, you’re usually on your way up the WWE ladder. But five months after Brooklyn, Akam and Rezar are still here.

Is it to put over Fish and O’Reilly in an even bigger way than they’ve been to date? Undisputed ERA is in a weird position where they’re set-up as power players, but they haven’t been given one of the winning streak gimmicks NXT loves. Over the last few months, the champs have looked more like dominators while their stablemates taken a big loss. Most observers are expecting a win for the ERA and a promotion for the Authors. Even if they’re right, how that happens could be just as important.