Elias on Evolving His Character Through His New Album, His First WWE ThunderDome Concert

Following his surprise return from injury last week, Elias will hold his first concert inside the WWE ThunderDome on this week's Monday Night Raw. The concerts have been a staple of "The Drifter's" persona for years, often generating the loudest reactions from a crowd on any given show (especially when he brings up the Sonics while in Seattle). But there won't be any live fans in attendance this time around, just virtual fans via the ThunderDome's rows of LED screens. That doesn't bother Elias at all, as he explained in an interview with ComicBook on Friday.

"I go out there and before all my performances, I say, 'Silence your cell phone, hold your applause, and shut your mouth.' Right? Because I want these guys to listen to what I've got to say," Elias said. "But now it's almost like I'm totally in control, right? Hey, maybe I'll mute the ThunderDome so I can hear myself. I have no idea yet.

"But I tell you, it's going to be interesting," he continued. "It's definitely going to be unique. And if you ask me, the ThunderDome is kind of an ideal place for a rock concert. I don't know what it's going to be yet, but I can picture fog, and lasers, all kinds of cool lighting, and pyro, whatever it may be, to really amp up the concert environment."

While on Raw last week Elias also promised that his second album, Universal Truth, will be released on Oct. 26. He then explained why he was inspired to write more music during his latest absence from WWE TV.

"The reason I call it that is because that's all I'm doing on this album," he said. "I'm giving you the truth. And when I get out there in front of a bunch of, whatever it may be, thousands of people across the world, millions watching on TV, I always say there is a universal truth. And everyone knows it deep in their hearts, and that is that WWE stands for 'Walk With Elias,' and this one is going to touch your heart."

The former 24/7 Champion then explained that the album will give fans an idea of where his character is going from here.

"I think you're really going to get a taste of it with this new album," he said. "The first album, Walk With Elias, it was very much about who I was at that time. And that'll always be me and will always be a part of me, but you're going to see there's a real spiritual element to this new music that I come out here with. It's spiritual energy, it's rock and roll. We're going to blend that all together, and you're going to see, not only has Elias evolved as a person, you're going to see that my music has evolved, my abilities have evolved, and onscreen, of course, when it comes time to getting it done in the ring, you're going to see the evolution there."

Monday Night Raw starts at 8 p.m. ET tonight on the USA Network.