The Raw after WrestleMania is renowned for its big returns, but fans were stunned to see a new look for a familiar face on last night’s show.WWE finished off WrestleMania weekend in Dallas with the Raw after WrestleMania, known for being the biggest and most anticipated Raw show of the year. And while some of the big names many expected to make their return failed to materialize, we did see a new-look for a WWE Superstar Elias. 

As Kevin Owens was cutting a promo in the ring reacting to his loss to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania on Saturday, he was interrupted by the name ‘Ezekiel’ flashing up on the titantron. With fans confused to who was about to make his way down the ramp, they were shocked to see a makeover for the former 24/7 Champion. 

Gone was the long beard and ‘drifter’ themed attire Elias had been sporting since his arrival from NXT in 2017 and in its place a clean-shaven look topped off by a more traditional wrestling look for the 34-year-old. 

To further distance himself from his previous gimmick, the debuting star told Kevin Owens that he isn’t Elias and in fact he is Ezekiel, the younger brother of Elias. Leading an already frustrated KO to leave the ring as Ezekiel continued to deny he was the artist formally known as Elias. 

We hadn’t seen ‘Elias’ on WWE since August where vignettes aired showing the musician burning his guitar, seemingly putting an end to the character. He was then set to return to WWE under a new guise at the end of last year, only for Vince McMahon to scrap plan as he thought Elias had a look too similar to Macho Man Randy Savage - a look that was backed-up by a promo image used by WWE2K22 that showed Elias in the revamped get-up.