Elijah Reveals How William Regal Helped Him Secure a WWE Contract

Elijah debuted in NXT back in 2014 but it was a very long and hard road for him to even get there. Interestingly enough, Elijah has now revealed how he was ultimately signed by WWE.

While speaking on Inside the Ropes, Elijah revealed how he finally got hired by WWE. At first, he worked as an extra for WWE. That meant just being there to fill in when needed, while still wrestling on the independent scene. He spent that time learning and training with experienced people like Rip Rogers and went to every good seminar he could find.

After about a year and a half of doing this, Scott Armstrong noticed him during one of his extra jobs. Scott asked him to wrestle one of WWE’s talent that night, who turned out to be Dean Ambrose before he was in The Shield. Dean was doing dark matches back then and Elijah quickly agreed. They had the match that night at Hershey Arena, where Dean essentially beat him up.

“Um, I used to do extra work for WWE — just be there as one of the extras — while still wrestling on the independent scene and learning my skills. I trained with people like Rip Rogers and went to any good seminar I could find.

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One day, while I was doing extra work, Scott Armstrong saw me and said, ‘Hey, I want you to wrestle one of our guys tonight.’ That guy was Dean Ambrose, before he was in The Shield. He was doing dark matches then. Scott asked if I could wrestle him, and I said, ‘Of course.’ So that night at Hershey Arena, I went out there and got beat up by Dean Ambrose — he really kicked my butt.”

When Elijah came backstage, he was met by William Regal, Pat Patterson, and Scott Armstrong. They told him he looked like a real athlete and did a great job. A couple of weeks later, Elijah got a call from Canyon Ceman, who ran talent relations at WWE. Canyon said they wanted to fly him to Florida, pay for his week there, and give him a tryout.

For years he had spent his own money chasing wrestling jobs and now WWE was paying for him. At the tryout, there were about 20 people, including Sasha Banks, Scott Dawson, Sami Zayn, Angelo Dawkins, and Coach Sara Amato.

About 15 people got signed, but Elijah wasn’t one of them. It was his fourth tryout with no contract. Canyon told him some people liked him, some didn’t, so they’d keep watching him and that was tough to hear.

“When I got backstage, I saw William Regal, Pat Patterson, and Scott Armstrong. They told me, ‘Hey man, you look like an athlete out there, you looked really good.’ I thanked them and didn’t think much more of it.

But about two weeks later, I got a call from Canyon, who handled talent for WWE. He said, ‘Hey, we’d like to fly you down to Florida for a tryout. We’ll pay you for the week.’ It was such a big change for me because I was always the one paying for tryouts, and now WWE wanted to pay me.

So I went to the tryout with about 20 people. Some of them were Sasha Banks, Scott Dawson, Sami Zayn, Angelo Dawkins, and Coach Sara Amato. Out of all of us, 15 people got signed — but I wasn’t one of them. That was my fourth tryout with no contract. Canyon told me, ‘Some of us liked you, some didn’t. Maybe next time.’ It was tough to hear.”

Elijah went back to wrestling on the indies, trying to get better. Six months later, he was doing extra work for WWE again. William Regal was there as always, helping the extras and teaching them what he could. He also had them all do promos. Elijah had even learned Italian by then, hoping it would impress WWE, and was ready to do an Italian promo.

Before he could start, Regal pulled him aside. Regal told him he had seen his last tryout and thought Elijah did great. He said WWE would be hiring in two weeks and that he’d try to get Elijah’s name on the list. This meant a lot to Elijah because he saw Regal as an amazing mentor and person.

Two weeks later, Elijah got the call he had been waiting for. WWE offered him a contract to join NXT, which meant moving to Orlando, Florida. After so many setbacks, he was overjoyed that it finally worked out.

“I went back to the indies and kept wrestling. About six months later, I did extra work again. William Regal was there — he always helped the extras a lot and made us do promos to test us. I had even learned Italian by then, thinking it might impress WWE. I was getting ready to do an Italian promo when Regal pulled me aside.

He said, ‘Hey, I want you to know that at that last tryout, I thought you did great. They’re going to be hiring in two weeks, and if I can, I’ll put your name in for it.’ I couldn’t believe it — William Regal saying that meant so much.

Two weeks later, I got the call. WWE offered me a contract to come to NXT, move to Orlando, and start with them. I was so happy. After all the years of trying, it finally happened.”

Elijah was released from the company in 2023 but he will always be grateful to William Regal for ultimately helping him get signed to WWE in the first place and that’s never going to change.

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