Ex-WWE star says iconic character was all his thought – however was ‘stolen’ from him

Former WWE star Elias, now going by Elijah, has dropped a major revelation claiming he was the mastermind behind Seth Rollins’ transformation into the Monday Night Messiah.

Elijah, 38, spoke out ahead of his UK tour with North Wrestling and reflected on his decade with WWE, adding he was someone often coming up with new ideas.

“I was always coming up with different characters, ways to evolve Elias into the next thing. There was a character that I really thought could have been incredible myself, it was the Monday Night Messiah. And if you realise, Seth Rollins and AOP ended up – for lack of better terms, they just gave it to those guys,” Elijah told the Metro.

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Known for his musical troubadour persona, Elijah insisted there’s no ill will towards Rollins although he believes he had a clear vision for the character. “I had a real vision of me being the Pied Piper of Monday Night Raw and controlling people, with kind of a cult-like leader,” he said. “The biblical themes and things like that, I always love that Messiah stuff.”

Elijah noted this pitch was “one of many” he presented to WWE’s creative team, a common practice where ideas often benefit top-tier wrestlers. “There’s guys that just are getting paid more or getting put more in a spotlight, and they might want to put the resources into those guys,” he said.

“It’s no discredit to Seth, the guy’s absolutely incredible. But this is how that’s how the system works, you know what I mean? That’s the risk you take with giving these ideas.”

Rollins has previously discussed the development of his on-screen persona, expressing pride in the evolution from the Monday Night Messiah to the Visionary back in 2020.

Elijah added it was probably “better to stay quiet” behind the scenes, but he would often go knocking on doors as a means of getting more prominent positions.

“So you get upset, you do your thing,” he said. “But at the at the end of the day, you’re like, ‘Well, okay, that’s how it goes. That’s the business.’ I knew what I was getting what I was getting into the business.”

He was even willing to cut his hair and shave his face to play Elias’ twin brother Ezekiel. “From a comfort standpoint, it was definitely interesting,” he went on. “But it’s another one of those things where I’m like, ‘Okay, boss, I’ll make the best of it.'”

Elijah is raring to go on the independent scene after his WWE release, and said it had been “a lot more fun” than he expected after being in the wrestling “system” for a long time. “To kind of step outside and have the freedom to call your shots, and pick the shows and the locations, and then the shows themselves, and the crowds themselves… it’s been a lot of fun.”

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