Many fans were disappointed with Big E’s reign as WWE Champion, including the WWE star himself.
Big E won the Money in the Bank contract in 2021 before cashing in September. He had announced his intentions to cash in the briefcase the day of the show and did so after Bobby Lashley retained the title over Randy Orton. Big E cashed in right after the bout and won the title.
Big E’s reign was ended at the Day 1 event in January 2022 when Brock Lesnar pinned him in a five-way match. He was moved to the SmackDown brand and part of The New Day.
While speaking with PopCulture, Big E looked back on the title reign:
“It was a great learning experience for me. It was one of those things where if I’m being honest, I wanted more. I didn’t feel like I had the best reign. I feel like there was a lot of meat left on the bone. A lot more that we could have done there,” Big E stated. “For me, I was really fortunate and really blessed to have that opportunity and really grateful for it as well.”
Big E said he was proud of handling the demands of being the champion and doing all the media that comes with it. He knows now that he can go on bigger platforms and crush media for the company.
Big E continued, “Really feeling like I’m meant to do this. For, for me, in many ways, even though I wanted more out of the reign and felt like a lot more could have been accomplished in-ring and on TV, SmackDown, Raw. As much as I have those feelings, I’m also so grateful for the opportunity and so grateful for so many doors that have opened because of that run.”
Big E noted that he is proud and grateful for the reign. He credited his run with The New Day for getting him there.
Last March, Big E suffered a broken neck on an episode of SmackDown when taking a belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge Holland, and the move went bad. He has been on the sidelines ever since and was supposed to get a check-up to see if he could wrestle again.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit PopCulture with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
