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Every once in a while we come a certain WWE superstar manages to connect with a crowd in a way that other performers can only dream of.
These acts become so wildly popular that WWE usually cannot go one single episode without putting them on Raw or Smackdown. Much like Chris Jericho's List of Jericho or John Cena's US Open Challenges before him, Elias has become one such act.
Every week Elias comes out and 'performs' for the crowd which always gets an amazing reaction. Recently he turned babyface and the reactions just grew louder and louder.
Despite not having a match at Wrestlemania, he was still part of one of the biggest and most important segments of the night. Currently, at the peak of his popularity, Elias might just receive a huge push off the back of his recent face-turn in the very near future.
Let's take a look at 10 of his best segments Elias has had since he made his WWE debut.
10. Alexa Bliss Walks With Elias
On September 3rd episode of Raw, Elias performed in Columbus, Ohio. The city just happened to be Alexa Bliss' hometown. Elias started off by mocking the city's namesake, Christopher Columbus, but was interrupted by Alexa Bliss.
After serenading the crowd for a bit, the former Raw Women's Champion turned into full savage mode and insulted every person in the crowd.
After cutting a promo on Trish Stratus, who she was feuding with, Bliss and Elias started to begin their song but were cut off by Raw Women's Champion, Ronda Rousey.
Alexa's perfect heel work and Elias' connection with the crowd made this segment a huge hit as the entire arena reacted to the duo's words.
9. Braun Strowman decimates Elias.
On 12th February, Raw visited San Jose California. As part of the build-up to Elimination Chamber, Elias had a segment where he ran down all the other participants taking part in the chamber match. He started the segment by bragging about beating Cena and Strowman the previous week and then started his song. He insulted every other participant using witty insults before he was cut off by ring announcer, JoJo.
JoJo introduced Braun Strowman the exact same way she usually introduces Elias. Braun Strowman then showed up on stage with a huge double bass guitar. He proceeded to sing a song of his own where he promised Elias would get these hands and that's exactly what Elias got. Well, he kind of did, as it was the huge bass guitar that ended up being smashed on Elias' back, not just Strowman's hands.
8. Elias meets Lio Rush for the first time
Back in September, Elias started a feud with Bobby Lashley before both men turned face and heel respectively.
In Dallas, Texas, Elias was booked in a match against Lashley. But before the match itself, Elias, as he so often does, performed for the crowd. He started his performance by running down the Dallas Cowboys prompting huge boos from the crowd but then he got interrupted by none other than 205 Live superstar, Lio Rush. This was the first time Lio Rush got a chance to cut a promo in front of a live crowd on Raw. What followed was comedy gold from the two.
Lio Rush firstly criticized Elias for doing the same thing over and over again. This prompted Elias to rip into him. He made a hilarious joke about Rush being a little kid, which got a lot of laughs from the crowd. Rush held his own and made a couple jokes at Elias as well before introducing Bobby Lashley. This segment was followed up by an Elias vs Lashley match.
7. Seth Rollins destroys Elias' favorite guitar
Elias got into a feud with Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship earlier this year. Performing in Little Rock, Arkansas this was one of the few times Elias actually finished his song. He proved to be a lyrical genius as he insulted both Rollins and Little Rock in an amazing little song. But what happened next stole the show.
Elias showed us a custom designed guitar which he claimed that he received from John Mayer. He promised to play that guitar next week when he had the IC Title around his waist but was interrupted by Rollins at this point.
They brawled and Elias quickly bailed out of the ring. Rollins, left alone in the ring with the guitar, then proceeded to Curb Stomp Elias' prized guitar as Jonathan Coachman somehow compared John Mayer to Jay Z much to the dismay of Corey Graves
6. Elias: Live from Bourbon Street
Elias released his first Album in July this year and the WWE promoted the album by having Elias perform live at Bourbon Street. This wasn't a wrestling work but an actual concert. The fans in attendance were of course wrestling fans but the set up was like a regular restaurant performance. Elias actually performed a medley of his album, 'WWE: Walk With Elias' songs and the crowd responded very positively.
This was also a part of WWE's 'Walk with Elias: The Documentary,' which is actually a pretty good watch. He performed for a good 10 minutes before leaving as the crowd chanted 'One more Song.' This was one of the most unorthodox, hilarious and amazing things WWE has done in recent times. An actual concert on a stage, not a wrestling show. That is something unique and incredible that no other superstar in history can brag about.
5. Trish Stratus meets Elias
From a more recent episode of Raw, Elias had a run in with none other than Trish Stratus. In Toronto, Canada, Elias began to sing his 'greatest song' when he had an epiphany and proceeded to insult Toronto in hilarious fashion. He even managed to use a Drake reference in his insults. He was soon interrupted by hometown hero, Trish Stratus.
The crowd cheered a lot for Stratus as Elias insulted her over and over again which got him immense heat from the crowd. Stratus held her own in the promo battle that ensued. Elias finally went after her age and called her a 60-year-old, which made the former Women's Champion slap Elias to a huge reaction from the crowd ending the segment.
4. Seattle drowns Elias and Kevin Owens in boos
Elias has always been a master of getting crowd reactions. He proved it when he caused absolute mayhem in Seattle, Washington in October.
The episode was part of the build-up to the Super Show Down event in Melbourne, Australia and Elias made the fatal mistake of mocking Seattle's basketball teams. The place erupted. Never have we seen such nuclear heat from a crowd in recent memory. The place absolutely went nuts and every single person in attendance proceeded to drown Kevin Owens and Elias in boos.
We can visibly see Elias cracking up after seeing that he has absolutely destroyed the people in the crowd. Kevin Owens, however, maintained his composure as expected and just looked uninterested. But Elias took it one step further insulting Seattle's Sports teams further and praising their arch rivals. The crowd booed non-stop for about 3 minutes straight, drowning out both Kevin Owens and Elias' voices.
3. Raw 25
At Raw 25 Elias had two amazing moments. First off, he met Chris Jericho backstage in a hilarious skit. Jericho asked Elias for his guitar so he can sing a song he wrote for Elias. Elias refuses and Jericho surprised us with his own guitar and sang a hilarious bit about Elias. After that, Elias got his name on Chris Jericho's list to loud cheers from the crowd who clearly enjoyed this segment a lot. A fuming Elias would go out to perform for the live crowd after that.
In the performance, Elias was interrupted by none other than John Cena. Cena and Elias had been going at it for a while now and Cena came out to defend the people of Brooklyn City as Elias was insulting them in his song. A fight between the two broke out which resulted in Elias hitting a low blow on Cena and smashing his guitar on the 16 time World Champion's back. Elias finally hit his finishing move, The Drift Away for good measure, ending the segment standing tall over Cena
2. The face turn
After Roman Reigns' tragic circumstances were revealed, some changes were really necessary to the landscape of Raw.
Elias' face turn seemed to be one of them as the Drifter was hastily turned into a babyface. Elias initially came out to perform for the crowd and got interrupted by Apollo Crews. An impromptu match was booked where Elias made quick work of Apollo. After the match, we were reintroduced to him again on the stage.
Elias resumed his performance again but was interrupted again by Baron Corbin. Corbin asked Elias to leave the stage or else he would fire him. Corbin stated that there was no time for Elias' performance. This enraged Elias who wittily insulted Corbin in a song. Corbin then cut off his mic and guitar, which got a lot of boos from the crowd before ordering Elias to leave.
Elias seemingly accepted Corbin's orders but then simply smashed him on the back with the guitar. The crowd erupted for Elias' actions and cheered him on as a new babyface hugely over with the crowd was born.
1. A Wrestlemania sized deception
Elias promised the WWE universe that he would deliver the performance of his lifetime at Wrestlemania 34. He did exactly that. Well, almost. He was fresh off of a feud against John Cena and seemingly had no match planned for him going into Wrestlemania. As for John Cena, he 'bought' a ticket to Wrestlemania and sat among the crowd as Undertaker didn't accept his challenge for a match, which meant we were treated to a shot of John Cena sat in the audience at least 3 times during each of the night's opening matches.
After the Charlotte vs Asuka match, a referee ran up to Cena and apparently told him that The Undertaker has arrived in the building. This prompted Cena to sprint full speed up the ramp through gorilla and to backstage. Cena came back out in full gear and waited for Undertaker to come out. The lights went out and out came Elias.
The crowd had been swerved perfectly as Elias came down to the ring and prepared to perform in front of the Wrestlemania crowd. Most of the people booed while some cheered on as Cena simply looked dejected and hopeless.
Cena would leave the ring out of frustration as Elias took center stage and began insulting everyone around him. He went after the crowd, The Undertaker and finally John Cena.
After a few harsh words, Cena snapped and jumped back in the ring. He attacked Elias and laid him out with an Attitude Adjustment to end Elias' night then and there. Although uneventful compared to the other entries on the list, this was Elias' first ever Wrestlemania and boy did he have a great moment. Being part of the John Cena vs Undertaker feud is something newcomers and debutants can only dream of.
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