"Who is this person?" - 36-year-old star couldn't recognize himself after WWE made him shave his facial hair

A popular star has revealed that he couldn't recognize himself in the mirror after WWE made him change his look. The star in question is Elias.

Elias underwent a gimmick change immediately after WrestleMania 38 in 2022. He came out on the RAW after 'Mania and was sporting a completely new look. He had shaved off his beard and mustache and was now going by the moniker of Ezekiel. Elias has previously made it known that Vince McMahon was the one who presented the gimmick to him and made him shave off his facial hair.

In a new interview with What Culture, Elias opened up about changing his look two years ago. He said he didn't recognize himself when looking in the mirror.

Check out his comments below:

"I didn't even recognize myself when you look in the mirror. I'm like, 'Who is this person?' And all of a sudden nobody recognizes you from everybody, you know what I mean. It's a wild shock but uh, yeah, nonetheless man, I mean... Hey, you just got to do it at some point." [1:11-1:26]

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What did former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon tell Elias when pitching the idea of Ezekiel?

Earlier this year, Elias was involved in a Q&A session on For The Love Of Wrestling. He revealed that Ezekiel was Vince's idea. Vince told Elias that he needed to shave his facial hair for his new character.

Check out an excerpt from Elias' comment below:

"As I did that, he was like, ‘Hey, let’s just go the whole way with it. Let’s clean up the hair, let’s shave the beard. We’ll give a whole new presentation.’ When I did that, it was like, 'Oh, this is a whole different person.'"

Elias now goes by the in-ring moniker of Elijah and is active on the independent scene. He lost to Mike Bailey in his first match after his WWE release last year.

Please credit What Culture and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use Elias' quotes!