Big E has made peace with the end of his in-ring career, explaining that walking away was not as painful as one might expect. Speaking to The A2TheK Wrestling Show while promoting his upcoming book, the former WWE Champion reflected on his run and why closing that chapter did not break his heart.
“It wasn’t difficult for me. As much as I loved my time in the ring, it wasn’t heartbreaking for me to say my time here is over, because I was able to look back,” Big E said.
Big E explained that perspective on his unlikely journey is what gave him peace.
“A guy like me, I’m not six feet tall, I don’t come from a wrestling lineage at all. To me, as a failed football player who came in with bad knees, to be the second-ever NXT Champion, WWE named us the greatest tag team of all time,” he said, also pointing to a memorable promo segment with The Rock, the New Day’s real-life cereal, and topping the company in merchandise sales in 2016. “To become WWE Champion, Mr. Money in the Bank, all these things, but more than anything, to have the respect of my peers, the respect from fans, I can look back, and I had so much fun in my career.”
The veteran also offered candid insight into the toughest part of the business, which he said has little to do with the physical side.
“This is not an easy business, there’s a lot of politics to deal with, a lot of time away from family and friends,” he said. “I tell wrestlers all the time, the hard part is not the wrestling training, the shows, not the bumps. The hard part is learning to navigate the office, it’s learning to deal with creative, it’s learning when to push and say I’ll eat this one today. If you don’t know how to navigate those waters, you might not be around for long.”
Above all, Big E saved his deepest gratitude for his New Day brothers, Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed, also known as Xavier Woods.
“There is no Big E WWE Championship run without those guys, there is no Money in the Bank, and there is no potential Hall of Fame,” he said. He acknowledged how differently his career might be remembered without them. “My career is one with maybe a little bit of promise early, and then peters out fairly quickly, and maybe we forget about this guy if not for Kofi and Woods, so I am so, so grateful for them.”
