In a profoundly candid interview on What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon, former WWE Champion Big E opened up about his lifelong battle with severe depression, a struggle that began in childhood and continued even at the peak of his career. He also shared how he found a path to healing through therapy, meditation, and mindfulness.
Big E traced his struggles back to his earliest memories. โMy first memory of struggling with depression was nine years old,โ he said. โLooking in the mirror and just crying and thinking, โI want to be anyone but me,โ just feeling very much alone, feeling like truly anyone else but who I was, and I just was not comfortable in my skin.โ
His depression worsened in college after a series of football injuries, leading to a diagnosis of “major depression with psychotic features,” which included hallucinations. โMy journey in therapy was not a smooth one,” he admitted. “I had many, many struggles. I was on antidepressantsโฆ I was on antipsychotic medicine as well. It got to a point too where I was even in a psych ward at the University of Iowa.โ
He revealed that even after achieving success with The New Day, the dark thoughts persisted. โI still struggled with suicidal thoughts, even at the height of The New Day, when we’re taking off,” he shared. “So many times I didn’t know why I was here. I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.โ It wasn’t until the pandemic forced him to confront his mental health that he committed to a daily meditation practice, a decision he says “vastly changed my life.”
Big E has been recovering from a broken neck he suffered in March 2022. While he has indicated he may never be medically cleared to wrestle again, he remains a beloved figure and ambassador for WWE.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
