Elijah Holyfield, the son of former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, won his first WWE Evolve match on June 3, defeating Kai Kavari on the company’s developmental show.
According to footage published by Bleacher Report, Holyfield closed the bout with a right-hand strike and pinned Kavari. WWE bills the finisher as “The Uppercut,” a move modeled on his father’s boxing background. Pro Wrestling Dot Net reported the contest lasted 1 minute, 14 seconds.
Holyfield worked through a series of Stinger Splashes and a spinebuster before landing the finishing blow, per SEScoops.
His father, a former cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, built much of his ring identity on body punching and combination work over a career that spanned the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
From the NFL to the ring
Holyfield’s route to WWE did not run through boxing. He played running back at the University of Georgia and signed with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2019, later spending time with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals. He appeared in one regular-season NFL game, during the 2020 season.
A knee injury in 2022, suffered while he was on the Bengals roster, ended his football career and redirected him toward professional wrestling.
WWE path
Holyfield signed a WWE developmental contract in November 2024. He competed in the first season of the reality series WWE LFG (Legends and Future Greats), where he was mentored by The Undertaker and earned a contract that placed him on the Evolve brand.
His in-ring debut had been delayed by injury. He suffered a torn bicep in late 2025 that required surgery, according to multiple wrestling outlets. He is 27.
The June 3 episode of Evolve was taped at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and streamed on Tubi in the United States.
