Elias explains why he has had more success on the main roster.
Last April, Elias left NXT. He had been in WWE developmental since 2014. He was one of the few NXT wrestlers to make the jump to the main roster without a NXT Championship run or even contending for the championship. In an interview with Yahoo Sports, he was asked how he felt about not reaching the NXT Championship. Elias said he drew motivation from it.
"I don?t want to say worry, but I was extra motivated. I remember telling people in power that I wanted to be on those NXT Takeover specials and be the NXT champion. With my career, if I?m not where I feel like I should be, I will voice my opinion and let them know. It definitely put a little fire underneath me to do extra. I always felt like I could do it better than most," said Elias.
Since coming to the main roster, Elias has had more success. On Sunday, he will be competing for a Wrestlemania main event spot in the Elimination Chamber. Elias said his musical act translated better to live television.
"Ever since I wanted to be a wrestler I always wanted to be on 'Monday Night Raw.' People have said that before and that?s fine. A lot of what I do on WWE TV is what I was doing on the NXT Live events. That wasn't really seen by anybody. But now I get to do it on live television. It also makes the live events something to see. I give a unique performance everywhere I go. You never know what I?m going to say about your city and the people in it," said Elias.
When it came time to be on the main roster, Elias was told a few days before an episode of Raw. In the interview, he also discussed his relationship with WWE's fans and his independent wrestling persona.
Fightful Wrestling will have live coverage and a recapping podcast for WWE Elimination Chamber including Elias' match.
The rest of the interview can be found on Yahoo.com.