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.
#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.