WWE Smackdown Live returns to Sioux Falls and promises an old-fashioned beat down

WWE brings Smackdown Live! back to Sioux Falls on Tuesday night.

Although WWE has been through Denny Sanford Premier Center several times over the years, this is the first time Smackdown Live returns for a scheduled television event on USA Network since Sept. 5, 2017.

Featured Superstars on the bill include Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston, Bayley, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and more.

One of the most popular heels (a bad guy in wrestling) in recent memory in the Smackdown Live stable is Elias (real name Jeffrey Sciullo), who’ll also be making an appearance.

His “Drifter” character has really caught on with the WWE Universe and he’s been so successful at generating tons of heat (fans’ backlash) by insulting the crowd’s city during an impromptu concert with him and his guitar in the center of the squared circle. 

Originally moving from WWE’s developmental league NXT to the main roster on RAW in 2017, Elias was recently reshuffled to Smackdown Live during the WWE Superstar Shakeup in April.

In true braggadocios heel fashion during a recent phone interview with USA Today Network, Elias answered several questions about the Sioux Falls show, his music career and why he thinks he should main-event every WWE PPV.

USA Today Network: You’ve been getting a lot of great air time between both RAW and Smackdown. As a performer, how does it feel to get all this attention?

Elias: Yeah, it's obvious that WWE sees great value in Elias and the entertainment that I bring. I was drafted to Smackdown in the shake up, but certainly, when WWE goes to Fox (starting on Friday, Oct. 4), maybe that will play a bigger roll. But in the meantime, I am making the best at being a wild card person more often than not.

USATN: You played a big role in last Sunday’s Summer Slam PPV event. What was that experience like?

Elias: I was all over the place at Summer Slam and anytime I can get involved in anything, I’ll make the best of it and do what I can. I was out there doing my performance and nobody in the world saw that Edge was coming out, myself included. There's a whole story to that that'll come out someday. But what a moment that was, the crowd began to go insane when he came out there. So that was really something to be a part of. Then later on of course as a special enforcer with Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens. I did everything I could to stop Kevin Owens, but the guy just outsmarted everybody.

USATN: Who was your biggest influence on the guitar and how did you get into music

Elias: I was super into Eric Clapton when I was a teenager. I’d listen to him non-stop and I’d fall asleep listening to Eric Clapton albums. And that is really what got me into the guitar. As my tastes go on and I grew up and things like that, I'd move onto classic rock and I love Aerosmith. Then I got into the Bruce Springsteen, whom I later developed a friendship with through my WWE connection and things like that. Now I'm into country music. I like Chris Stapleton and Eric Church.

USATN: Talk about your 2018 album “WWE: Walk With Elias.”

Elias: That was all me. I went to Vince McMahon and I said, “Vince, it’s time for Elias to put out an album.” And he said, “Hey, let's do it. We'll get you songwriters, we'll get you in the studio and all that stuff.” But I said, “Hey, I'll take care of all that, but just get me in the studio and let me do my thing.” So those songs… some from Elias’s brain that I created, performed all the instruments. It's all me, all the words, every aspect of it was all Elias. But it was recorded in the WWE studio in New York City.

USATN: You get a lot of heat when you start mocking each city during your song performances. Do you do any research or think about how you're going to insult the city beforehand and what's in store for Sioux Falls on Tuesday night?

Elias: There's only so much time and only so many cities I can get in one song to tell you how I feel about all of them. If I had the time, if I was making a 10-minute song, I would’ve got Sioux Falls in there. But it just goes to show you how important Sioux Fall is to me; it's not very important. So, when I show up there, what I'm going to do, I'm going to take in the sites and sounds of the city and see what the people are all about, see what the city's all about. That's when I'll formulate my song. That's when I'll formulate all my thoughts. You could call it insults, you call it what you will. I say I'm just telling you the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, and it seems like people take it that way more often than not.

USATN: It’s great to see where you’re at now in your career compared to first developing your Drifter character on NXT.

Elias: When I was in NXT, I actually thought I could have been on all the Takeovers and main-eventing all of those. Right now, I think I should be main-eventing all the Pay Per Views and main-eventing Wrestlemania. It has certainly been quite the journey from my time period from where I was playing guitar outside of the local venues in Florida trying to get noticed, to where I’m sitting on a stool playing guitar doing the same exact thing in front of 80,000 people at Wrestlemania. So, I definitely have that perspective in mind. But the same way that people didn't know what I was capable of in NXT, and then they see me on Monday Night RAW or Smackdown and they go, “Oh my God, this guy is really good.” They've only seen a little bit of what I can do because wait until I'm in that position and wait until I am main-eventing Wrestlemania and things like that. You're going to be like, “Wow, this guy is like the greatest of all time.”

USATN: How great is it to get to smash guitars over other wrestlers?

Elias: You know what, it's always a very nice release of anger. Because you don’t want to see my performance get interrupted. And that really upsets me. So, when things come up, I almost get so angry I can't take it. I grab my guitar and smash somebody and it's like, “Okay, now I can take a breath, everything's all right.”

USATN: Do you have any other foreseeable projects or career moves in the near future?

Elias: For my entire life I wanted to be a wrestler. I wanted to be in the WWE. And sure enough, here we are years later, and WWE stands for Walk With Elias. And as long as they keep me happy, I’d go with being in WWE in the foreseeable future and beyond that. I want to do movies. I've already been approached to do a few. I think it’s an obvious path I would love to take. If I can do that under the WWE umbrella, then great. And then if I got to go in the movies afterwards or music, whatever it may be, those are definite avenues I’d love to explore.

IF YOU GO

What: WWE Smackdown Live

When: Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 6:45 p.m.

Where: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center

Ticket info: $103, $78, $53, $38, $28, $18, available at the Premier Center Box Office, www.ticketmaster.com or charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000