Due to budget constraints that followed the WWE and UFC merger to form TKO, several stars had their contracts with WWE terminated in September of last year.
Matt Riddle, Elias, Dana Brooke, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, and Mustafa Ali are among those let go. While Ali is sorking for NJPW alongside Ziggler, a few of those stars, including Brooke and Ziggler, have made their way into TNA Wrestling. While working on some dates for New Japan, Riddle is in MLW.
Elias and Benjamin are still available as free agents. After leaving WWE, the former Elias is scheduled to return to the ring at a future event. He last competed in a match on a RAW episode in May of last year, where he worked the Intercontinental Championship #1 Contendership Battle Royal.
Elias was with WWE from 2014 to 2023. He began his career in NXT as a musician going by the ring name Elias Samson. In 2017, he transitioned to the main roster under the Elias moniker.
He took a break in late 2021 and returned in April of the following year, but this time he was Ezekiel, Elias’ younger brother. He had shaved his beard and cropped his hair. In the same year, he was removed from television once more, made a comeback as Elias, and then released.
Wrestling REVOLVER, an independent promotion, has announced that Elias, now known as Elijah, will face TNA’s “Speedball” Mike Bailey for the first time ever at their upcoming Whatashow event on February 17.
[BREAKING]
Signed for 2/17#RevolverWHAT@TheEpicGP – Grand Prairie, TX
LIVE on @FiteTV+*FIRST TIME EVER*
Speedball Mike Bailey
Vs.
ELIJAH!?️ https://t.co/mOxgSQzp6e pic.twitter.com/JpsSihn1lK
— Wrestling REVOLVER (@PWRevolver) January 17, 2024
