Elias Speaks On Almost Getting Fired From WWE

WWE's Elias was Lilian Garcia's guest on her Chasing Glory podcast on Monday, with his most interesting comments stemming from the time he found himself on WWE's "fired list" while working in NXT.

Here's what the former 'Drifter' had to say (h/t Wrestling Inc.):-

"I’m here at my dream job. I’m on NXT, and one step closer to WWE. One thing I became very aware of when I got there was that the people who said ‘no’ at my tryout were now in charge of my job, and their minds didn’t change. Corey Graves can attest to this, but I was put on the fired list numerous times in NXT for whatever reason. I’ll tie it in full circle. I remember being pulled aside by the head of NXT at that time. He said, ‘Hey, listen. You gotta come up with something for us. We’re going to examine you in about 30 days. And, hey, maybe you’d be better off somewhere else. Maybe not everybody is meant to be a WWE Superstar.'"

Elias worked NXT from 2014 to 2017, when he was called up to the main roster after WrestleMania 33. He had struggled for traction before coming up with his 'Drifter' character, working solely as an enhancement talent up to that point, and ended up departing NXT following a 'Loser Leaves NXT' bout with Kassius Ohno in March 2017.

The 33-year-old has since connected to a greater degree on Raw and SmackDown and signed a new multi-year deal with WWE earlier this year, so it's safe to say he is nowhere near that "fired list" anymore.