"Was this by design, so the crowd cr*p on it?"- WWE veteran reveals what went wrong with Elias' return as Ezekiel (Exclusive)
Elias made his long-awaited WWE return on the RAW after WrestleMania 38 and looked almost unrecognizable as he unveiled his new character.
Elias' 'brother' Ezekiel appeared to interrupt Kevin Owens' promo, and the nature of his reintroduction on television has been ridiculed online.
During this week's episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW, Vince Russo raised doubts about whether WWE deliberately designed the RAW angle to make Elias look bad:
"I've got to ask myself the question. Was this by design, so the crowd cr*p on it? Was this 1000% by design because, bro, there is a right way to do something, and there is a wrong way. This is the wrong way to do this, bro." [20:34 - 20:56]
While Vince Russo was aware of specific backstage details regarding the creative plans for Elias, he didn't want to reveal them and risk attracting backstage heat to the superstar:
"There are certain things I can't say here because I don't want to get the talent in any hot water," said Russo. "Let me just put it that way. The bottom line is, they don't know how to do anything. They don't know how to do anything." [19:25 - 19:44]
"There should be a mystery" - Vince Russo highlights WWE's mistake with Elias' brother Ezekiel's debut
Russo said WWE should not have revealed Elias' new identity on his first night back on the red brand. Instead, Vince stated that the company could have had him not respond to questions relating to his transformation.
The former WWE head writer believes that creating the aforementioned mystery would have grabbed fans' attention towards a potentially good pay-off:
"The whole idea behind this, bro, should be, wait a minute? Is it? Isn't it? And on day one, he should not come out and say, 'I'm not Elias. I'm am Ezekiel.' It should be a mystery. There should be a mystery where they think it's Elias. What's going on here? Why did you make this change? And he doesn't comment," explained Russo. "That's where they are missing it, bro. There has to be a reason and a story, and now we're hooked because now we're waiting to hear from him. Is this Elias? But no! The first minute, 'I'm Ezekiel.'" [19:45 - 20:33]
Whether it's Elias or his brother Ezekiel, the superstar made his first announcement with a tweet following his return, and you can check out what he had to say right here.
What are your reactions to Elias' new persona? Sound off in the comments section below.
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