Elias Discusses his NXT Run, Mark Henry on a Hulk Hogan Return

Elias has managed to achieve a great deal of success for himself ever since joining the main roster. He is currently involved in high-profile feuds with John Cena and Braun Strowman at the moment, and he also will be competing in the men’s Elimination Chamber match this Sunday night. His “Drifter” gimmick has also been praised by most fans ever since he joined Monday Night Raw last year, however, fans of NXT will likely acknowledge that his time in the developmental brand was not met with as much success. Elias’ unique character was not well received during his time in NXT and some were even surprised to see him get called up to Raw at all last year.
During an appearance on Edge and Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness podcast, Elias addressed his NXT run and why he believes that it did not work in Full Sail University. “The Drifter” stated on the show that he believes that the character was simply one that would translate better on the main roster than in the smaller settings that NXT provides. “Triple H has told me specifically from the very first time when he saw me, he said that it would be a better main roster character than NXT. It never really clicked with the NXT audience the way it has, (and) the way I see it, I took my live event act in NXT and brought it to the main roster.” said Elias. Rather than continue his shtick until fans lose interest in the character, Elias said that he definitely is working on ways to continue evolving his gimmick.
Hulk Hogan has mostly remained away from professional wrestling altogether ever since WWE decided to sever ties with him due to racist comments that were discovered within his leaked sex tape. The company has remained committed to their stance on Hogan ever since, but Hogan himself has recently said that he would love to come back to WWE. TMZ just recently caught up with veteran WWE Superstar Mark Henry and asked him if he believed if Hogan should be brought back. Henry stated that he would have no problem with Hogan coming back as long as “The Hulkster” provided a sincere apology to all of the African American wrestlers currently on the WWE roster.