Elias "The Drifter" Samson Is Now Just "Elias," According To WWE

Elias Samson’s last name appears to be no more, according to WWE.

On WWE’s roster page on their official website, Elias Samson only appears as “Elias” which can be seen below.

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This is not the first time WWE has shortened a wrestler’s name in the past number of years. Several superstars like Neville (f.k.a. Adrian Neville), Cesaro (Antonio Cesaro), Rusev (Alexander Rusev), Big E (Big E Langston) and more have had their names shortened by WWE on their official roster page and on WWE television.

Elias has been on Monday Night Raw for several months, but has recently started wrestling for WWE’s Red Brand, fighting former Universal Champion Finn Balor numerous times in the past few weeks. On the July 24 edition of RAW, Elias defeated Balor in a “No Disqualification” match.

He also had the nickname “The Drifter” while he was in NXT in 2015, but once Elias got called up to Monday Night RAW, his nickname had been getting minimal mentions until it was dropped entirely. Elias competed in the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2015, losing in the first round of the tournament.

Elias has been with WWE since 2014, spending the majority of his career in NXT.

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