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What’s the story?
On a recent edition of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness, Elias opened up on a myriad of topics.
Elias explained why his character didn’t quite click with the NXT fans. Besides, Elias also revealed that he likely won’t stick with the same character arc for long and will ensure that his character evolves over the course of his career.
In case you didn’t know…
Elias performed for the WWE’s NXT brand from 2014-17, following which he made his main roster debut on RAW in mid-2017.
The 30-year-old Superstar debuted his musician character back in August of 2015 and was initially simply seen strumming his guitar.
The heart of the matter
Elias asserted that he did have a few initial frustrations with his character, and initially thought that him sitting on a turnbuckle while simply strumming his guitar would be mysterious as well as cool. However, he pointed out that his character didn’t really click with the NXT fans.
Elias added that he was approached by WWE trainer and former wrestler Terry Taylor, who urged him to sing a song for the fans at an NXT house show—something that would continue at a few more NXT live events, but not on NXT television tapings. Elias stated—
"Triple H has told me specifically from the very first time when he saw me, he said that it would be a better main roster character than NXT. It never really clicked with the NXT audience the way it has, (and) the way I see it, I took my live event act in NXT and brought it to the main roster."
"They saw the live event act and said let's put that on TV. On NXT, I would sing songs, but wouldn't even do that, plus it was very dark and cryptic, but this is the kind of stuff I was doing on live events in NXT before being called up."
Additionally, Elias elucidated that in his lengthy pre-WWE career as an indie wrestler, his goal was always to be on RAW, SmackDown, and the WWE PPVs. However, during his NXT stint, his goal became partaking in a memorable match at NXT TakeOver—primarily owing to the fact that he wanted to connect not only with the casual fans but also with the NXT Universe that is mainly comprised of hardcore pro-wrestling fans.
Furthermore, Elias explained that he definitely sees his character evolving, and doesn’t intend to ride his ongoing character arc till the wheels fall off. Elias continued that like a rock star, his career will have its ups and downs, egos and demands, before the end—hence, in his mind he sees his character evolving in many different ways.
What’s next?
Elias vs John Cena vs Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman vs The Miz comprises the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match which takes place at the Elimination Chamber PPV on 25 February.
The winner of the aforementioned matchup shall go on to face Brock Lesnar for the latter’s WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34 in April.
Author’s take
Honestly speaking, Elias seems to have come a long way since his days in NXT.
Not only has Elias grown and evolved as a character, but he also seems to have become more comfortable with his role in the WWE after making his RAW debut last year. Great things await this talented young man in WWE.
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