5 surprise Royal Rumble winners that would help WWE solidify the 'New Era' promise

1. Elias

Will the cheers for Elias ever amount to a big push?

Elias is a guy who seems to be ready for mega-stardom, but who WWE is seemingly reluctant to truly push hard. He clearly is super over with the live crowds, and was even so when he was a heel.

Like Almas, he had trouble initially finding his niche in both NXT and on the main roster, but between those levels, something just clicked with him. His simple gimmick of insulting the cities WWE was in was easy to love or hate but it was effective in practice nonetheless.

Even though it seemed he was simply a gimmick, it's an effective one. He's also actually a pretty talented worker who is both strong and explosive in the ring.

If anyone on this list were to embody the 'New Era' promise, it would be Elias. They wouldn't lose much by pushing him since he's already hugely popular and given freedom with his promos.

Imagine the thunderous reaction if he was the last man standing on January 27th in Arizona. If he won, he could truly claim that WWE stands for 'Walk With Elias'.