What if Elias replaces Roman Reigns as the face of Raw?

It was a shocking turn when Roman Reigns announced that he needed to vacate the Universal Championship and walk away from WWE.

Reigns had been built up to be the face of the company, headlining WrestleManias and other major shows, besides being booked to defeat other top-tier stars throughout the company. There was no indication from the booking that WWE intended to de-push Reigns, or that the company had prepared in advance for him to be away.

Real life intervened, though, and as Reigns grapples with leukaemia, WWE is left to soldier forward without him.

In an unlikely turn of events, Elias turned face on the same episode of Raw when Reigns announced his time away. There was little to foreshadow this turn, and the early word from the rumor mill was that his, and some other key face turns of late, were built in to compensate for characters like Bobby Lashley and Dean Ambrose turning heel, besides making up for Reigns’s absence.

But what if WWE were going a step further, and actually replacing Reigns with Elias as their top star, at least for the time being? This article speculates about what that might mean.

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5. More songs about heels

Elias may not be signing about host cities for much longer

Elias has largely made a name for himself built on singing original songs about whatever city WWE is performing in. Typically, the model is used to produce heat by poking at local landmarks or sports teams, or else more generically throwing the city’s name into the song’s lyrics. The gimmick is noteworthy if only for the trust WWE has demonstrated in its musical star, reportedly giving him a longer leash on the mic than most any other star of his standing to write his own material.

Picking on cities wouldn’t fit a face character, instead, singing kindly about different locales runs the risk of coming across as pandering, and thus uncool. However, turning Elias’s derision and wit toward the heel Superstars he is opposing could make sense as a way of presenting Elias as cool and lending him an unconventional spin on his wrestling promos to build rivalries.

4. An anti-authority push

Elias could become one of the WWE's top faces

The first meaningful suggestion that Elias would be playing a face showed up when he was at odds with interim general manager Baron Corbin. While it’s possible that this interaction was incidental—it’s not exactly new for WWE to position face characters at least tangentially at odds with heel authority figures—it could also be the start of a bigger angle.

Any rebellious face versus heel authority invites comparisons to the classic Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chairman Vince McMahon angle. These comparisons can be a blessing or a curse, on one hand giving fans an immediate context to understand the rivalry and pull on nostalgia, while also suffering because hardly any program can compare to Austin-McMahon. Nonetheless, if WWE at least wants to test the waters with Elias working toward the top, this could be a logical enough push to pursue as the company sorts out this new version of his character.

3. Elias vs. Dean Ambrose

An Elias vs. Dean Ambrose program could be on its way.

As a face character, Elias will have a fresh slate of opponents to work with, ranging from guys like Jinder Mahal to someone like Drew McIntyre as guys who have been fellow heels, and so Elias will get to do something new in the ring with.

Dean Ambrose isn’t an entirely new opponent to Elias, as the two did work a bit in the upper mid-card over the last year. It will, however, be the first time these two have clashed with this particular face-heel alignment. Moreover, the stakes may be higher than ever before for their pairing, especially if WWE means to elevate Elias. Coming off a hot run with The Shield and newly having turned heel, Ambrose is looking like he’ll be a main event level star at this point. If Elias is intended to land at a similar position on the card, then this matchup may be a vehicle for him to do so, playing the underdog against the former WWE Champion, and conceivably with the Universal title on the line.

2. Division of styles between brands

The differences between Raw and SmackDown may only intensify with a big push for Elias.

During the original WWE brand split, the general consensus was that SmackDown was more of the worker’s brand for hardcore fans, featuring the better in-ring action, whereas Raw was more of the entertainment brand with bigger names but less exceptional actual matches.

Whether it was by conscious design, or simply the way things played out, that dynamic has repeated itself with the current brand split. One need look no further than the respective shows’ world title scenes, where AJ Styles has stood tall as quite arguably the best worker in WWE working opposite talents like Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, and Daniel Bryan, Raw has been headlined by the likes of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and Braun Strowman—not bad talents, but quite arguably “more sizzle than steak.”

Elias isn’t a huge star yet but he has the potential to become one. If he does so, it won’t be on the grounds that someone like Chad Gable or Mustafa Ali conceivably could as a standout worker. On the contrary, while Elias is competent in the ring, his star power is far more rooted in his charisma and mic skills. If he’s pushed on top, it will further establish Raw as the more entertainment-oriented brand.

1. Star tag teams

Elias may get a credibility boost from high profile tag team partners.

Any time that a new talent gets a main event level push out of the mid-card, it requires some degree of adjustment for the fans. Sometimes that means a slow, steady build working up through the mid-card, or sometimes that means a white-hot angle, or sometimes a shocking title win. The quicker it happens, though, the more support a star typically needs in order to be accepted as credible in his or her new role.

While Elias has had some interactions with stars like John Cena, he has mostly been handled as a staunchly mid-card talent since joining the main roster (and was also never an NXT headliner). He’ll need some rebuilding and a face turn is a good start. Another step in the direction of better establishing Elias as a top talent would be to team him with talents like the one WWE wants him to be. That might mean mending fences with John Cena, pairing up with the newly alone Seth Rollins, or conceivably even continuing his partnership with Kevin Owens from Super Show-Down, but with each man now cast as a face.