Former WWE Star Takes Credit For Seth Rollins' Monday Night Messiah Gimmick

Former WWE star Elias has stated that he is responsible for the creation Seth Rollins' "Monday Night Messiah" gimmick.

Elias was released from WWE in 2023 along with several other superstars in the list of talent cuts last Fall and currently works on the indie wrestling scene under the name "Elijah," having made appearances in promotions such as IWC and MCW. This past Saturday in an interview with Metro.co.uk, Elijah reflected on his time in WWE while claiming that the "Monday Night Messiah" character that Rollins used was originally his idea and could've been his gimmick.

"I was always coming up with different characters, ways to evolve Elias into the next thing," he said. "There was a character that I really thought could've been incredible myself, it was the Monday Night Messiah. And if you realize, Seth Rollins and AOP ended up — for lack of better terms, they just gave it to those guys."

Rollins debuted the "Monday Night Messiah" gimmick in late 2019, forming a three-man faction with Akam and Rezar of the Authors of Pain. Murphy, also known as Buddy Matthews in AEW, joined Rollins as one of his disciples in 2020, but would eventually leave WWE in 2021 after Rollins' "Messiah" character had been retired.

The former Elias insists there are no hard feels between he and Rollins, but he wishes he'd had to opportunity to develop the character himself.

"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 loved that, the messiah stuff ... 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."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Metro.co.uk" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.