Seattle WWE Raw crowd erupts in boos at Elias for jab at SuperSonics
WWE Superstar Elias did what he does best Monday night in Seattle, eliciting a deafening chorus of non-stop boos as he poked fun at the city’s beloved, and lost, NBA team.
Elias brought on his Super Show-Down partner, Kevin Owens, during his usual musical segment and the two began by making fun of their upcoming opponents, Bobby Lashley and John Cena, with the support of the crowd.
“You and I teaming up, it makes sense, right?” Owens said. “We respect each other. We have similar likes and dislikes. We’re both fantastic competitors. Look, let’s just come out and say it: we’re both great guys. We’re just a couple of great guys.
“But you know what doesn’t make sense? John Cena teaming with Bobby Lashley.”
The crowd enthusiasm quickly turned the other way when Elias got to the punchline.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s like having a basketball team in Seattle,” he said.
Rain down the boos.
.@IAmEliasWWE said having a basketball team in Seattle doesn't make sense. The people of Seattle didn't like that ONE BIT. #Raw pic.twitter.com/JSLE0mE73N
— WWE (@WWE) October 2, 2018
Elias looked around shiftily, waiting for it to quiet, but it never did. So he turned it up another notch and drilled them where it really hurt.
“Oklahoma City, now I get that,” he said. “A team here just doesn’t make sense.”
The Seattle Supersonics, founded in 1967, were bought by new ownership and moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, where the franchise is now the Thunder. The team’s new ownership and the city fought over funding for a new arena before the move.
The city’s residents, clearly, are still in rough shape about it.
“John Cena ruins things all the time,” Owens said later on, the crowd still going. “Just like the people of Seattle ruin things, too. That’s why their basketball team left.”
Elias and Owens got through the rest of their promo despite uproarious noise and thumbs down motions from the packed crowd. Elias even asked for his mic to be louder and asked Owens to speak louder as well, adding “these people are being very disrespectful.”
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