WWE: How Samoa Joe’s Injury Opens Opportunity For Elias

How Elias’s performance on RAW 25 proves that he’s ready for a bigger role in the WWE.

On the December 25th edition of RAW, resident chop-buster and entertainer, Elias, headed to the ring to do his usual thing. But somewhere near the assumed middle of his verbal assault on the 13,000-plus fans in attendance at the AllState Arena in Chicago, 16-time world champion, John Cena returned to the red brand.

After only competing in one match in the previous three months, that being the 5 on 5 Survivor Series match in November where he was a part of Team SmackDown, “Big Match John’s” return to Monday nights was surprisingly met with a positive tone from the spectators.

Call it Elias’s ability to get on the fans nerves and the want for someone to punch him in his non-stop mouth, or call it the WWE Universe starting to finally come around on Cena a bit, the preceding segment between the two came off fairly strong. But although it was positive, it was also a fairly typical Cena return segment.

The formula has been pretty simple over the years for  moments like this. An over heel comes out, runs his mouth, Cena enters, runs him down, the heel throws a cheap shot which leads to a match that Cena wins. And that’s exactly what happened. Elias battled the former champ hard for 16 minutes but eventually, and unsurprisingly, succumbed to an Attitude Adjustment.

credit: wwe.com

So that seemed like the end of the Cena/Elias feud and that was no shock. “The Drifter” has not accomplished, at this point in his career at least, anything that would lead him down a path to battle one of the company’s greatest stars of all time for anything more than one night.

That meant Cena would be moving on to something else. And that exact thing seemed to become crystal clear on the January 8th RAW when Samoa Joe, after dismantling Rhyno, entered himself into the Royal Rumble yet also took the time to make sure that he’d be setting his sights on eliminating “The Leader of Cenation” in the process, as revenge for his pinfall elimination to him at Survivor Series.

However, what most didn’t notice during Joe’s destruction of Rhyno was the fact that “The Samoan Submission Machine” injured his foot in the process. And what first looked like a minor injury may be a lot worse. According to the Wrestler Observer Newsletter, Joe may be out well into March. So what originally looked like a Joe/Cena feud that could carry the two to Wrestlemania where many believe Cena will finally clash with The Undertaker, suddenly had a monkey wrench thrown in.

Re-enter Elias. On Monday’s RAW 25, “The Sinister Songsmith” played out a very similar role that he did on the December 25th show, except this time he was the one standing tall. After cutting another brilliant song/promo that ran down not only Brooklyn but also it’s inhabitants including the ringside Jimmy Fallon, he was once again confronted by Cena. And just when it looked like Cena would have his number again, Elias was able to get the upper hand and lay out his foe with a vicious guitar shot.

Before Monday’s show, Elias was a guy who had great potential. After Monday’s show, Elias is a player. To leave a former 16-time champion lying in a heap in the center of the ring in one of the best segments of the night, in one of the most watched shows of the year, it’s clear that the WWE has big things in store for the 29 year-old Pittsburgh native. Add in that he was the one to have a surprising run in with Chris Jericho, another legend backstage, Elias had one of the most important roles of the entire night that was full of stars.

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Now, if we’re being realists, this will probably all end with Cena defeating Samson a number of times before heading on to one of his biggest Wrestlemania matches in years. But the inclusion of “The Drifter” against Cena may be the final push he needs to get to the next level. It’s been a great start to the year for him, and if things keep trending in this direction, 2018 may be the year we all walk with Elias.