October 16, 2018

WWE wrestler Elias calls Philly ‘depraved,’ likens Gritty to the city’s ‘ugly’ residents

By Adam Hermann
PhillyVoice Staff

WWE/YouTube

Elias, before losing in front of the Wells Fargo Center crowd.

WWE Raw visited the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night, and one wrestler caught the ire of those famous Philadelphia sports fans.

The wrestler who goes by the ring name Elias tangled with, and lost to, Apollo Crews, but before the match Elias dissed Philly sports fans, Philly residents in general, and the city’s new beloved dirty son, Gritty.

Here’s what went down:

Elias goes after @GrittyNHL and had lunch with Carson Wentz #RAW pic.twitter.com/GdEK24wZBA
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) October 16, 2018

And the transcript, in case the video fails you:

"Earlier today I go to lunch with Carson Wentz, and I ask him about his injuries from last season, I ask if it was painful, and he says, ‘Elias, yeah, it was. But true pain is psychological. True pain is going out there each week and pretending like you care about this depraved and shameful city of Philadelphia.’
[...]

And while I’m at it, Gritty? He's not a mascot. He is a spitting image of every person in this city. He’s a fat, ugly, googly-eyed slob."

Unsurprisingly, the comments — all delivered tongue-in-cheek and in character, to be clear — drew the expected boos. Using Carson Wentz against Philadelphians? Slamming Gritty? That’s a one-two punch no man can come back from.

Of course, this is nothing new for Elias. He’s known in the wrestling world as a heel, or a wrestler who intentionally agitates fans and plays the bad guy or girl. His bit, which is to play a song with his guitar — or, more accurately, start to play a song before he’s interrupted by his opponent — has recently taken on more pointed attacks of whichever city WWE Raw is in that night.

Just the other week, Seattle let him hear it when he compared a weird pairing in a wrestling match to “having a basketball team in Seattle.”

That’s cold.

Look on the bright side: at least Philadelphia sports fans still have all four major teams for visitors and interlopers to insult.

And, of course, when that happens, Philly will yell at the offender. A lot.

Gritty, for the record, responded on Monday morning: