CHICAGO — As the saying goes, ‘tis better to give than receive. And after John Cena arrived to the first-ever live Raw on Christmas to give a young fan the shirt off his back, Elias decided to interrupt him to give The Cenation Leader a taste of what it feels like to be cut off in the middle of a major moment. Cena, surprisingly, decided to play ball and walk with Elias, even encouraging the guitarist to play a song — until he took a few too many digs at The Windy City and Cena called him a “jerk” in response.

That led Elias to politely request a do-over, which Cena agreed to as long as he cut out the insults. But just when it seemed like Elias’ heart was about to grow three sizes, he dropped Cena with a punch to the face and challenged him to a match that Raw General Manager Kurt Angle sanctioned on the spot. The woozy Cena was powerless to stop Elias, who chopped the 16-time World Champion down with body blows and powerslam presses that sent him flying across the ring.

Elias was even wise to Cena’s signature sequences, rolling out of the ring after a couple of shoulder tackles to avoid the Five-Knuckle Shuffle and twice escaping the STF. It was an impressive performance by any measure. But Cena turned the tide almost instantly, administering the shoulder tackles, spinning slam, Five-Knuckle Shuffle and, finally, the greatest gift of all: An Attitude Adjustment both literal and perhaps figurative to end the match in the very arena where he made his WWE debut all those years ago.