4 reasons why WWE has never booked Elias to win a main-show PPV match

Elias will face Roman Reigns in one of the featured matches at the 2019 WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view on Sunday, May 19.

Whilst researching WWE’s storylines and matches ahead of the upcoming event, one stat stood out above the rest: Elias has been part of the main roster for over two years and he has never won a main-show PPV match.

At PPV kickoff shows, his record reads as follows: defeated Apollo Crews (No Mercy 2017), defeated Matt Hardy (Survivor Series 2017), defeated Bobby Lashley (TLC 2018).

On PPV main shows, however, it is a very different story: lost to Jason Jordan (TLC 2017), lost the 2018 Royal Rumble, lost seven-man Elimination Chamber 2018 match, lost the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble, lost to Seth Rollins (Money In The Bank 2018), lost to Bobby Lashley & John Cena (Super Show-Down), lost the 2019 Royal Rumble.

With one of the biggest matches of his career on the horizon, does Elias really have a realistic chance of defeating Reigns at Money In The Bank? You only need to look at the match records above for the answer to that question.

In this article, let’s take a look at four reasons why WWE has never booked SmackDown Live’s resident guitarist to win a match on a PPV main-show.

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#4 He has not been in many title storylines

Looking back at Elias’ two years as a member of the Raw roster, he spent much of his time in short rivalries on Monday nights which did not lead to matches at pay-per-views.

Given that the majority of PPV cards are filled with title matches these days, especially since the dual-brand events became a monthly occurrence in early 2018, it has been more difficult for Superstars to appear in PPV matches if they are not involved in a championship storyline.

When it comes to titles, Elias has not had much luck with getting his hands on any gold since he joined the main roster. His only PPV attempt to win a title came when he was defeated by Seth Rollins in an Intercontinental Championship match at Money In The Bank, in June 2018, while his previous shot at the IC title – versus Roman Reigns on Raw in November 2017, also ended in defeat.

#3 His PPV opponents needed wins more than him

Looking at the list of names Elias has defeated on pay-per-view kickoff shows (Apollo Crews, Matt Hardy, and Bobby Lashley), it was pretty clear that “The Living Truth” needed the wins at the time a lot more than his opponents.

The victories over Crews and Lashley took place at times when WWE was pushing Elias as more of a prominent Superstar on Raw, first as a heel and then as a babyface, while Hardy’s defeat at Survivor Series 2017 made sense long-term because it kick-started his transition into becoming “Woken”.

As for the main-show PPV defeats, we can forget about the Royal Rumbles and other multi-man #1 contender matches – Elias was never going to realistically win those – so that only leaves his matches against Jason Jordan (TLC 2017), Seth Rollins (Money In The Bank 2018), and Bobby Lashley & John Cena (Super Show-Down).

In late 2017, Jordan was being pushed as a future opponent for Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 34 (that did not happen, of course), so it was only right that he would pick up the win. As for the Rollins and Cena matches, it is one thing for Elias to defeat them on Raw, but on PPV? He is not at that stage yet.

#2 His character is not defined by victories

Elias is one of those rare WWE Superstars who does not need to win matches or titles in order to be viewed as a credible threat to his opponents.

Dolph Ziggler, for example, will likely be defined by his 12 title reigns when his career is over (World Heavyweight Championship x2, Intercontinental Championship x6, United States Championship x2, Tag Team Championship x2), as well as his 2012 Money In The Bank triumph.

In contrast, Elias’ character is defined by crowd reactions, as opposed to accomplishments, and he can still remain credible by smashing his trusty guitar across rivals’ backs or by insulting fellow Superstars in a song.

It is also worth noting that, even when he is not booked to compete in a match, WWE often uses Elias at pay-per-view events to perform a derogatory song for the crowd, with the most notable example coming at WrestleMania 35 when he was confronted by John Cena.

#1 Fans love to see Elias lose

With the exception of Baron Corbin, there are few Superstars in WWE who fans like to see lose more than Elias.

The guitar-playing “Drifter” is respected by WWE fans, hence why he is often cheered when he is introduced, but he has the ability to turn audiences against himself within seconds by insulting the host town during one of his trademark songs. As soon as that happens, the boos begin and Elias suddenly becomes the biggest heel of the night.

Some Superstars make careers out of being high-profile Superstars who lose matches when it matters most (e.g. Rusev has lost 18 PPV matches in a row), and it appears as though Elias’ character could be going down a similar path.

After all, WWE has booked him to face the mighty Roman Reigns at the upcoming Money In The Bank event – Reigns has not lost a one-on-one match in 10 months – so it does not look like this pattern of PPV defeats will change in a hurry.