4-time WWE champion shockingly returns after nearly 1000 days

A former WWE champion made his return during tonight's edition of NXT. It's been nearly 1000 days since he last stepped inside a WWE ring.

Elijah first made a name for himself in WWE under the ring name Elias. He quickly gained a lot of traction with fans due to his gimmick. Despite this, he was barely involved in any key storylines and was mostly seen as a punching bag for the more popular stars on TV.

He did manage to win the 24/7 Championship four times. He also won the WWE Year-End Award for Breakout Superstar of the Year in 2018, in addition to a Slammy Award in 2020 for his musical performances.

After a poor run in the company, he was finally released in 2023. His last match took place on the May 15, 2023, episode of RAW when he competed in a number one contendership battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship.

Since his release, Elijah has gone on to work in the independent circuit. He joined TNA Wrestling earlier this year, where he has been a regular feature on TV. Due to TNA's working partnership with the sports entertainment juggernaut, some of its talent were allowed to compete in a battle royal tonight on NXT. One of the TNA wrestlers involved in the match was Elijah, and the fans were excited to see him again.

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It will be interesting to see if Elijah will be able to win tonight's battle royal.

About the author

Sunil is a pro wrestling journalist, covering AEW and WWE news stories at Sportskeeda. He holds an MBA degree in Marketing, and has nearly 7 years of experience. A wrestling aficionado since childhood, Sunil used to imitate his favorite wrestlers as a young kid, and started writing professionally about the sport via Sportskeeda’s revenue-sharing opportunity.

Sunil admires former world champions AJ Styles, Will Ospreay, and Kenny Omega for their ability to consistently deliver great matches as well as entertain crowds with their mic skills.

If ever given a chance to change a storyline, Sunil would have booked Roman Reigns to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak instead of Brock Lesnar. According to him, The Tribal Chief needed the victory more than Brock Lesnar, as the latter was already an established performer when he defeated ‘Taker. He would’ve also made that as Taker’s final match.

Always focused on making his work accurate and reliable, Sunil thoroughly checks his facts before writing his articles. When not writing for pro wrestling, he spends his time watching cricket.

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Edited by Harish Raj S