What does WWE stand for? "Walk with Elias." Sadly, no more.
Elias, who signed with WWE, started with NXT. In 2014, he saw slow but decent growth over his career. His WWE career has seen some of the most incredible, as well as some of the weirdest, moments. From having a WrestleMania moment with the Thug Leader John Cena to cosplaying as his own fictional brother, 'Ezekiel'.
Elias's WWE career was full of ups and downs. In this video, we are going to take a look back at his time in WWE and what flaws led to his release from the company.
Make sure you subscribe to Sportskeeda Wrestling for more amazing wrestling content.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#elias #ezekiel #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Elias, who signed with WWE, started with NXT. In 2014, he saw slow but decent growth over his career. His WWE career has seen some of the most incredible, as well as some of the weirdest, moments. From having a WrestleMania moment with the Thug Leader John Cena to cosplaying as his own fictional brother, 'Ezekiel'.
Elias's WWE career was full of ups and downs. In this video, we are going to take a look back at his time in WWE and what flaws led to his release from the company.
Make sure you subscribe to Sportskeeda Wrestling for more amazing wrestling content.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#elias #ezekiel #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00 WWE stands for...
00:02 - All-Kill Alliance!
00:05 - Jeffrey D. Skihulia, a man of many names--
00:09 Heavy Metal Jesus, Logan Shula,
00:12 Ezekiel, and Elias Samson.
00:15 But most know him simply as Elias.
00:18 He was unfortunately released by WWE in 2023,
00:22 but after nine years, he had a run
00:25 in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world
00:27 that many would love to even get close to.
00:31 But believe it or not,
00:32 before everybody was walking with Elias,
00:35 he had to go through a lot of hurdles,
00:37 a lot of adversity, to actually have a pretty cool
00:40 and inspirational story to tell along the way.
00:43 This is "Sportskeeda Wrestling."
00:45 I'm Kevin Kellum.
00:47 Let us know what you think of Elias.
00:49 Do you walk with him?
00:50 What are your favorite matches from Elias
00:53 and favorite memories of him in his time in WWE?
00:56 - I said WWE stands for...
00:59 - All-Kill Alliance!
01:01 - Like most pro wrestlers, he started out as a fan
01:05 who was inspired by legendary figures
01:07 like the Macho Man Randy Savage,
01:10 Stone Cold Steve Austin,
01:13 and the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels.
01:16 He knew early on that wrestling was his calling.
01:20 At the age of 21, he began his professional wrestling journey
01:24 in the Northeast region of the U.S.,
01:26 performing all over through various independent organizations,
01:30 making bumps, making towns,
01:33 and finding his way up the wrestling path.
01:36 He wrestled under the name of Heavy Metal Jesus
01:39 and Logan Shulo,
01:40 and he knew that he was in a stepping-stone position
01:44 to get to WWE.
01:45 Unfortunately for him, it was not going to be that simple.
01:49 It's not uncommon for wrestlers to get overlooked
01:52 and rejected by WWE before making it,
01:55 but even in this department,
01:56 Elias had a very unique situation.
01:59 He wasn't rejected by WWE just once,
02:03 not twice, nor thrice.
02:05 He was rejected by the company on four separate occasions.
02:10 He was turned down for paid tryouts,
02:12 even had major backstage names like Pat Patterson,
02:15 and William Regal take notice of him
02:18 and invited him for a trial run,
02:20 and then he was also rejected.
02:22 But he was never going to let this get to him.
02:25 His diligence, his resilience,
02:27 played a really strong song, if you will, in his life.
02:32 During one of the tryouts, he happened to meet Shawn Michaels,
02:35 who told him that he had something
02:37 that would stick with him for years to come.
02:39 Michaels told Elias, quote,
02:41 "Just remember, a lot of times,
02:43 no means not yet."
02:46 And he took that to heart.
02:48 Elias may have never let it affect him,
02:50 and after putting the pieces together
02:51 and figuring out who the hell he was in the WWE's eyes,
02:56 he came with a direct shot
02:59 as a red-hot developmental talent on NXT.
03:03 He came in at the right time.
03:05 His run in NXT was interesting,
03:07 but nowhere near as notable as other names at the time,
03:10 like Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Bayley,
03:13 Asuka, Samoa Joe, Johnny Gargano, and more,
03:16 all who came to WWE with a lot of stardom and success
03:20 on the independent circuit
03:22 that maybe Elias himself didn't have.
03:24 Plus, they were all pure wrestling talents.
03:27 And this was on purpose,
03:28 because Elias wasn't meant to be in NXT for long.
03:32 He started off as an enhancement talent,
03:34 losing to more established superstars,
03:36 before finally debuting his gimmick,
03:39 the gimmick that would be associated with him
03:41 and evolve into something that would pack arenas
03:44 with fans singing along.
03:46 It started out as The Drifter,
03:48 a guitar-wielding bad guy
03:50 who trashed the crowds and his opponents to their face.
03:54 He was a throwback to a kind of character
03:56 that seemed to be perfect fit for the main roster of WWE,
04:00 and not so much the pure wrestling characters
04:03 we were getting on the black and yellow of NXT.
04:05 So maybe he wasn't meant for NXT for that long.
04:08 He was involved in some big matches
04:10 against stars like Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura,
04:12 Apollo Crews, and more,
04:14 and he was more often than not on the losing end of things.
04:17 But it didn't really matter too much at all,
04:20 because it only took 19 months
04:22 for him and WWE's developmental system of NXT
04:25 to get the call-up to join Monday Night Raw.
04:28 After losing the first-ever
04:30 "Loser Leaves NXT" match to Chris Hero,
04:33 he returned for one last match
04:36 under a mask as El Vagabundo
04:39 in what was yet another persona
04:42 in his incredibly weird rogues gallery of characters.
04:46 Elias was something different.
04:48 He was sports entertainment in NXT,
04:51 so he was really bound for the sports entertainment
04:54 of Monday Night Raw.
04:56 It's not like he hadn't performed in front of big crowds before.
04:59 Elias performed in front of takeover crowds
05:02 the size of 9,000 to 10,000.
05:04 This was the peak of NXT,
05:05 and he was a standout character on it.
05:07 And there really wasn't anything like the bright lights, though,
05:10 of Monday Night Raw on SmackDown.
05:12 But you know what's scarier than having to perform
05:14 in front of a large crowd every week?
05:16 Doing it in front of the very judgmental, powerful,
05:19 and most influential man in WWE, Vince McMahon.
05:23 Yeah, in your first meeting together.
05:26 Thankfully, Elias passed with flying colors,
05:28 which is probably why his transition to Raw
05:31 on the night after WrestleMania 33 was so easy.
05:34 When you get that position to be on the first season premiere
05:38 episode of WWE, it means WWE's betting on you being something big.
05:43 Something like that probably helped his self-confidence in a big way.
05:46 The entire post-WrestleMania 32, WrestleMania 33 period
05:50 was arguably one of the stronger times in those WWE PG years,
05:55 and in the aftermath of that,
05:56 Elias was one of the new faces on Raw.
05:58 He was introduced strolling around backstage among the crowd,
06:02 and even on the main stage,
06:04 making his presence known with his guitar in hand.
06:07 And in hindsight, it was a good way to introduce him.
06:10 The interactive nature of his character
06:12 was always going to get him over on that main roster.
06:16 It didn't take long for him to become a household name
06:19 among diehard fans.
06:21 He feuded with Finn Balor, who was on the rebound
06:24 after returning from an injury after WrestleMania.
06:26 And thanks to a little help from the very spooky Bray Wyatt,
06:30 he managed to get the better of him too.
06:33 That's right.
06:34 In retrospect, it's kind of crazy to say that
06:36 Elias beat Finn Balor,
06:37 but we'll say even more crazier things as we go on here.
06:40 It was during this feud that Booker T on commentary
06:43 randomly became the biggest Jason Jordan hater in the world.
06:47 During a match where Elias was disqualified for,
06:50 you know, doing what a wrestler does when they have a guitar,
06:53 smashing it on Jordan's head,
06:55 Booker T blamed Jordan for using illegal tactics
07:00 when he didn't do any of the tactics.
07:03 Booker!
07:04 Okay, sure. Shucky ducky, quack quack, I guess.
07:07 We recommend you check that match out.
07:09 Corey Gray's losing it as Booker T's comments
07:12 laughing uncontrollably makes it quite a hilarious watch.
07:16 But that's what Elias was associated with,
07:18 the outlandish, weirder, out there side of wrestling.
07:22 Despite losing his feud to Jason Jordan,
07:24 he went on to challenge Roman Reigns
07:27 for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
07:30 in his first title match.
07:32 And yeah, he was not bigger than the Big Dog.
07:35 2018 would prove to be the hottest year
07:38 of Elias' run in WWE as a superstar.
07:41 After a respectable 26-minute performance
07:44 in the Royal Rumble match
07:45 before being eliminated by John Cena,
07:48 he went on to pin the GOAT himself
07:51 in a triple threat match
07:53 also involving Braun Strowman.
07:55 That is right.
07:56 If you're goofing on Elias, remember,
07:58 he pinned John Cena.
08:00 In the build-up to Elimination Chambers match,
08:02 where the winner would face Brock Lesnar
08:05 for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania,
08:08 all competitors faced off in a gauntlet match.
08:11 It was the night that Seth Rollins
08:13 put on a record-breaking 65-minute performance,
08:16 pinning Roman Reigns and John Cena back-to-back
08:19 in one of the longest TV matches in WWE history.
08:23 Elias was the next man,
08:25 and he took advantage of a beaten-down Rollins
08:28 and pinned him before being eliminated by Finn Balor.
08:32 So that's right.
08:33 Elias beat the guy who beat John Cena
08:36 on the same night.
08:37 The Elimination Chambers saw him get eliminated
08:40 by Braun Strowman early on,
08:42 but it was a sign that things could possibly
08:44 be looking up for the guitar-playing wrestler.
08:48 He hung with the big guys of the company
08:50 and seemed like he belonged
08:52 and had personality that captured fans.
08:55 It also allowed him to not simply be a guy
08:57 who was a character bell to bell.
08:59 After John Cena thought he was going to face
09:02 the phenom, The Undertaker,
09:04 in a special WrestleMania showdown in New Orleans,
09:08 Elias trolled the world
09:11 by making it seem like Taker was actually appearing.
09:15 This was a unique presentation for Elias
09:18 to be a supporting character to John Cena.
09:21 And after receiving an attitude adjustment from John,
09:24 who would face The Undertaker
09:26 and lose in a whopping 165-second match,
09:29 it showed that Elias could be a player
09:32 to other big stories and support them in unique ways.
09:36 He went on to feud with Seth Rollins,
09:38 who was crowned the IC Champion at WrestleMania 34,
09:41 before losing to him at Money in the Bank.
09:43 Around this time, he also became one of the few WWE names
09:47 to release a full album.
09:49 That's right, he played guitar.
09:50 He really played it, and it was titled
09:52 "WWE Walk with Elias."
09:55 It was a good year for Elias,
09:57 who went on to have an unforgettable segment
10:00 in October of that year with Kevin Owens,
10:02 where they got some of the loudest heel heat
10:05 since Raw after WrestleMania 33
10:08 when Roman Reigns retired The Undertaker.
10:10 Yeah, they were getting really booed that night.
10:13 It was an insane level of heat, lava heat it was,
10:17 triggered by Elias and KO taking shots
10:19 at the city of Seattle for not having a basketball team anymore.
10:23 Sorry if you're a fan of the Supersonics.
10:25 Elias later revealed to Lillian Garcia
10:27 that while the original plan for this segment
10:29 was to go on for just about four minutes,
10:32 the reaction that they got was so loud,
10:35 it was hard for them to stop.
10:37 The boos would continue for over five minutes.
10:40 Since going over the scheduled time
10:42 can cause ripple effects on a live TV show,
10:45 Elias thought he was gonna be in trouble.
10:47 Instead, he was applauded backstage
10:50 for how the segment turned out.
10:51 Soon after that, he became a good guy
10:54 for the first time in his career
10:56 by attacking Baron Corbin
10:58 and even defeated the almighty Bobby Lashley,
11:00 of all people, in a multi-match feud.
11:03 Fortunately for Elias,
11:04 his character didn't work out well as a good guy.
11:07 So just one night after the 2019 Royal Rumble,
11:11 he turned into a villain once more.
11:13 Since Elias changed his tune character-wise
11:16 at the beginning of WrestleMania season,
11:18 it seemed like he could be lost in the shuffle
11:20 and maybe not get a big match on the biggest show of the year.
11:23 That really wasn't the case,
11:25 'cause he got to be in an in-ring segment,
11:27 a surprise appearance with
11:29 (imitates trumpet)
11:30 John Cena,
11:31 who returned as his Doctor of Thuganomics character
11:34 for one night only,
11:35 proving that rap was better than acoustic rock.
11:38 Elias later revealed that there were plans
11:41 for a match between him and Cena,
11:42 but they never worked out for reasons unknown.
11:45 And in a fitting full circle moment from the previous year,
11:49 The Undertaker beat him up on the Raw
11:51 after WrestleMania 34.
11:53 How come that wasn't on WrestleMania 34?
11:55 Oh, yeah, that was the WrestleMania
11:57 that went until, like, I don't know, 2 a.m. or something.
12:00 It seemed like Elias was gonna be paired with big names
12:03 but never treated like a main eventer,
12:05 yet still respected by a lot of fans
12:07 who enjoyed booing him and his entire
12:10 "play a mean song about our town while you're in our town" act.
12:13 Or he was just gonna be the guy
12:15 who got beat up by legends for a cheap pop.
12:17 Not exactly the worst position to be in,
12:19 but certainly not top of the card.
12:21 Post the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up, though,
12:24 he got to feud with an even more popular newcomer
12:27 to SmackDown around that time,
12:29 Roman Reigns.
12:30 And it wasn't too bad, given that he was aligning
12:32 with Shane McMahon, who was really getting booed,
12:35 and it got worse when he lost to Roman Reigns
12:38 in eight freaking seconds at Money in the Bank.
12:42 He had a job, and in the eyes of some,
12:44 he was getting jobbed out.
12:46 The remainder of the year saw him run around
12:48 and chase the WWE 24/7 Championship,
12:51 which was basically like a sideshow comedy element
12:54 for a lot of lower-tier characters
12:56 and somehow remains the only title that he's won in WWE.
13:00 He actually won it four times,
13:01 so technically he's a four-time champion of something,
13:05 of a fun thing on the side.
13:07 I know, too many people get down on the WWE 24/7 title.
13:10 He was the runner-up in the chaotic 51-man
13:13 Battle Royal in Saudi Arabia
13:15 that saw Mansoor win,
13:17 and that year culminated with a loss
13:19 to Drake Maverick, of all people.
13:21 Elias had to pull out of the King of the Ring tournament
13:23 and would take two months off
13:25 due to an unfortunate ankle injury
13:27 before returning and becoming a baby-faced good guy once again.
13:31 During the onset of the pandemic in the very early stages,
13:34 Elias found himself feuding with B-Ring Corbin,
13:38 who is now going by King Corbin.
13:40 For some reason, they were added to the Wrestlemania 36 card,
13:44 and Elias would finally get to have a real showcase
13:48 for himself on the show of shows,
13:50 but unfortunately, this was the one with no fans on it.
13:53 Elias won by roll-up.
13:55 Old-school wrestling.
13:57 What a way to have his first match at Mania
13:59 in three years on the main roster.
14:01 Unfortunately for everyone, though,
14:03 it wasn't the same kind of Mania you pursue as a pro wrestler.
14:07 We bet you don't even remember the match.
14:09 Hey, we don't blame you. That was a weird Wrestlemania.
14:12 I don't think we blame anyone on the card, either.
14:14 He was cut out of another tournament
14:16 due to another unfortunate injury.
14:18 This time, it was for the Intercontinental title,
14:20 and he had a torn pectoral muscle that took him out of action.
14:23 In storyline, though, of course, it was a lot more entertaining.
14:27 It was during Jeff Hardy's unfortunate
14:29 and controversial addiction storyline
14:32 that he seemingly took Elias out in a car accident
14:36 before being arrested.
14:37 Got to admit, it was a bit corny,
14:39 but kind of ridiculous,
14:41 considering how it was presented on SmackDown.
14:43 After a long hiatus, Elias returned later on in the year
14:47 and took out Jeff Hardy in an act of vengeance,
14:50 turning bad guy once again.
14:53 We're starting to think he wasn't very good at being a good guy,
14:56 but good at being a bad guy.
14:58 You understand what we're saying. You follow the vernacular.
15:00 He lost to him in some unique stipulation matches,
15:04 like a guitar on a pole match.
15:05 That's where the guitar is. I think you follow.
15:08 And then a symphony of destruction match.
15:11 That's another match where you have other musical instruments
15:14 and you kabong them on someone.
15:15 For some reason, WWE loved having Elias
15:18 in these symphony of destruction matches.
15:20 They were quite ridiculous and very over the top,
15:23 like a lot of the things with his character.
15:25 A couple of years earlier,
15:26 he lost to Braun Strowman in one of these.
15:28 The second time it was against Jeff Hardy,
15:30 and that puts him at 0-2 in a stipulation match
15:33 that's supposed to be associated with him.
15:35 Soon after that, he aligned with Jackson Ryker.
15:38 He was trying to rebound from a career-destroying,
15:41 controversial political tweet
15:42 that's on post support for a former president.
15:46 The two stuck together for a good chunk of 2021,
15:49 and during WrestleMania 37,
15:50 Elias and Ryker served as Shane McMahon's cronies,
15:54 getting thrown off a steel cage by Braun Strowman.
15:57 Once again, another supporting role.
15:59 After the ill-fitting duo of Elias and Jackson Ryker
16:02 unsuccessfully challenged AJ Styles and Omos
16:06 for the Raw Tag Team titles,
16:08 they would break up and face off in a, you guessed it,
16:11 Symphony of Destruction match.
16:13 Elias once again took the L.
16:15 That means he's 0-3 in these matches,
16:17 kabonged with, I don't know,
16:18 whatever was in the music room at your school.
16:21 We'd like to think that WWE reserved the match
16:23 exclusively for Elias to lose.
16:25 Seems like it.
16:26 This marked the end of the Elias character
16:29 for a big period of time,
16:30 as he ditched the music
16:31 for teased appearing as someone else completely different.
16:35 The promise was fulfilled.
16:36 After several months away, several months,
16:39 he appeared at WrestleMania 38 as his twin brother, Ezekiel.
16:44 They may not have been the same person,
16:46 but who the heck knows?
16:47 Kevin Owens was the one guy who will swear
16:50 that on a family member's grave
16:52 that Elias and Ezekiel are the same person.
16:55 Does no one agree with Kevin?
16:57 Ezekiel would begin feuding with Owens,
16:59 who was coming off a WrestleMania 38 main event
17:02 against Stone Cold Steve Austin.
17:04 It was a bit funny of a story,
17:05 and for a character,
17:06 it was supposed to be pretty ridiculous,
17:08 and it seemed like they were going to hit the ceiling
17:10 with all of the ridiculous things you could think of.
17:13 There were a few memorable moments,
17:14 like the time Ezekiel and Elias appeared on screen together
17:18 in a pre-edited video,
17:19 and then there was the time that a third brother, Elrod,
17:22 also came about.
17:24 The E-names?
17:25 What's the other one?
17:26 Eddie or something like that?
17:27 Moving on.
17:28 Kevin Owens was a gem as usual,
17:30 but the Triple H era kicked off in the summer of 2022,
17:34 with him taking over the creative roost of WWE.
17:37 The game made his feelings known of the Ezekiel character
17:41 and quickly scrapped it in favor of a return to Elias.
17:45 It would be an underwhelming next year for El-Man, though,
17:49 who found himself untraffed.
17:51 Yeah, that's how you know you're not really in the mix with WWE,
17:55 and then released just as WWE's merger
17:58 with the TKO Endeavor Group became official.
18:01 WWE was making big moves.
18:03 Getting Elias out of the company, unfortunately,
18:05 was just one of them.
18:06 He got to largely be a character that he helped create,
18:09 for the most part.
18:10 Get huge reactions around the country,
18:12 do something that no one else was doing on Monday Raw,
18:16 and sometimes he didn't even have to wrestle a whole lot to do it.
18:19 But the good part about Elias is that his career is far from done.
18:23 If anything, he's only getting started.
18:25 In 2024, he rebranded as Elijah,
18:28 looking for his next big journey in the business.
18:31 He said in an interview with Monopoly Events
18:33 that he has plenty of ideas to evolve his character
18:37 and take it to the next level.
18:39 He wants to do television,
18:40 which means major promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling,
18:43 TNA, or All Elite Wrestling could come calling.
18:46 Though he seems to be a fit for TNA,
18:48 who love themselves some wild characters like this,
18:51 he agrees that he's wanting to go out there to Japan
18:54 and smash any expectations that he can't go bell to bell
18:58 and give him hell.
18:59 He's always had the reputation of being a strong,
19:01 character-driven performer, which we've already established here,
19:04 but he's never had that, "Oh, wow, he's a fantastic wrestler" reputation.
19:09 Maybe his time away from WWE can do that.
19:12 Time to reinvent the song, write a new tune.
19:15 Yeah, we're doing more musical puns.
19:17 It's a chance for Elias to reinvent himself altogether
19:20 and take the long road back to the big time,
19:23 similar to what you saw with Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes.
19:27 Even if he proves himself to a certain level
19:29 and doesn't have to be as big as Rhodes or McIntyre,
19:32 he can still make a great living and be remembered
19:35 as one of those guys you simply love to boo
19:38 when he came out there and strummed the guitar.
19:41 Ultimately, he will be a great signing to any company
19:45 that can pick him up because he can make stars
19:48 while being a star himself.
19:50 Thank you for watching.
19:51 Let us know what you think of Elias in the comments below.
19:54 (dramatic music)
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