An observation made on social media during the opening segment of the June 17 episode of Raw made it’s way to the post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, and into the wider pro wrestling conversation.
The theory is that this promo from Elias:
Was actually the promo written for Dean Ambrose during another WWE visit to Los Angeles, as described by Jon Moxley during his shoot interview on Talk Is Jericho - the now infamous “pooper scooper” promo.
Here’s Dave Meltzer from Observer Radio explaining:
“Did you notice? Elias’ interview was the exact interview that Jon Moxley said that Vince McMahon said he wanted him to do when he was in Los Angeles? A lot of people noticed that, because Moxley described the whole interview in one of his interviews, I think it was the Jericho one... but, yeah, he explained this whole thing that Vince wanted and he didn’t want to do it. So, Elias did it, and it’s just like - after a lot of people heard that podcast, for them to go in there and have Elias do it... that’s almost kind of weird to me, but it’s like, ‘well, we liked it and we haven’t been in Los Angeles and now we’re in Los Angeles so goddamnit, we’re gonna have someone do this interview so we’ll have Elias do it,’ and he did it.”
Personally, I’m dubious. Elias’ promo was his usual rag-on-the-host-city spiel, with a timely reference to the NBA trade of Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Los Angeles Lakers that wouldn’t have really applied. His line about L.A. being a city “where the people are more toxic than the air” sounds like it could have come from Ambrose/Moxley’s Nov. 19, 2018 promo, but the rest of it wouldn’t have made any sense with regards to current events or Dean’s feud with Seth Rollins.
Not that making sense is always a requirement for WWE’s scripts, but come on. Neither what Mox described to Chris Jericho as:
“...it’s something along of the lines of - we’re in L.A., he tries to insult the content of their character more so than their actual smell. He says something along the lines of ‘Oh, L.A. shallow trash, I wouldn’t come out here without a gas mask’ or something...”
And which ended up on screen as...
...bares more than a passing resemblance to Elias’ promo from June 17.
But that’s just my take.
What’s yours, ya smelly bastiches?