WWE has decided one of its newest developmental prospects is ready for a change of scenery, and it’s sending him to work under the guy who already knows him best.
The News, Straight From Shawn Michaels
On the August 9 episode of WWE LFG, Elijah Holyfield teamed with Apollo Crews against Kam Hendrix and Harley Riggins. Once the match wrapped, Shawn Michaels called Holyfield into his office and delivered the news himself: instead of continuing his climb through NXT, Holyfield is heading down to AAA, where he’ll reunite with his old mentor, The Undertaker.
“I think, coming in the door, you were a very valued prospect to us. I’m sure, maybe from your perspective, it has been a while. Maybe you’ve had some setbacks with the injury, but an opportunity has arose for us to get you into the game. You are going to have the opportunity to go down to AAA and show the world who Elijah Holyfield truly is. You will be meeting up with your old trainer, the Undertaker. The possibilities down there are going to be unlimited for you. Congratulations, and thank you very much for always giving it your best.”
Back Under the Deadman’s Wing
This isn’t a new relationship. The Undertaker mentored Holyfield during the first season of WWE LFG, the A&E reality series that put a group of prospects through his and other legends’ training, and by all accounts made an impression. He’s called Holyfield “a prodigy” on camera, praising his explosiveness and calling him one of the most naturally gifted athletes to come through the program. Now, instead of just being a mentor on a reality show, Undertaker becomes his hands-on trainer inside AAA, with, as Michaels put it, “unlimited” possibilities for how the two build him from here.
From Georgia Backfield to WWE Ring
Holyfield’s path to wrestling runs through football first. He ran the ball at the University of Georgia, and as a junior in 2018 he rushed for 1,018 yards, part of just the second running back duo in school history (alongside D’Andre Swift) to each clear 1,000 yards in the same season. He went undrafted in 2019 and spent time with the Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Cincinnati Bengals before a knee injury in 2022 ended his football career.
He signed his WWE developmental deal in November 2024 and trained under Fit Finlay, Johnny Moss, Matt Bloom, and Robbie Brookside, in addition to Undertaker. His in-ring debut came on the June 3 EVOLVE brand, where he needed just over a minute to finish off Kai Kavari with a signature right hand WWE bills as “The Uppercut,” a finisher modeled directly on his father’s day job.
The Name He’s Carrying
That father is Evander Holyfield, “The Real Deal,” and the only fighter in boxing history to win the world heavyweight championship four separate times, one more than Muhammad Ali. Evander first won the title from Buster Douglas in 1990, lost it and won it back twice more through the 1990s (including two famous bouts with Mike Tyson), and claimed his fourth reign in 2000 with a win over John Ruiz. He retired in 2014 with a career record of 44-10-2. Elijah growing up in that shadow, and then building his own finishing move as a nod to it, is the kind of detail that makes this move land harder than a standard call-up.
Part of a Bigger AAA Push
The timing also fits a pattern. AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio has been steadily pulling talent across the WWE-AAA partnership all year, from Damian Priest’s AAA debut to his announcement of a luchador tournament that will determine Roman Reigns’ next challenger. Holyfield, still early in his wrestling career at 28, now gets to develop inside that same expanding pipeline, with The Undertaker in his corner the whole way.
