On a recent episode of the “Stuck In My Thoughts” podcast (scroll down to watch the interview), Big E opened up about his arduous journey to WWE, a path that began only after his first dream of a football career was cut short by severe injuries, leading to a period of serious mental health struggles. “For me, the lesson has been life will take you in so many different directions that you never anticipate,” Big E said of his experience.
Big E detailed his time at the University of Iowa, where his sole focus was on his football career. A string of major injuries, however, derailed those plans permanently. “My whole goal was to play college football. Finally got that chance to play at Iowa, and I just had a ton of injuries,” he recalled. “I tore both my ACLs, broke my right patella, tore my left pec, ended up taking medical hardship, and essentially, your time is done. We’re gonna honor your scholarship, but your time on the team is done”.
The abrupt end of his football career sent him into a difficult period of self-discovery and depression. “I spent some really hard years struggling with my mental health, really struggling with depression, ended up in a psych ward, went through ECT’s,” Big E revealed. “I went through a very difficult time trying to figure out what’s next in life. Who am I? Where am I going?”.
It was during this time that an unexpected opportunity with WWE “kind of came out of nowhere”. He started in the developmental system, FCW, in 2009 under a contract that was far from glamorous. “People think, because you’re signed, it’s all glitz and glamor,” he said. “But I tell people too, if you want to get into entertainment… if your reason is money, it’s not going to last, man, you’re going to burn out… I came in to WWE barely just being able to pay my bills under contract, but $500 a week is not going to take you very far, even in 2009”.
During those early years, Big E focused on his long-term goals, a mindset he credits for his success. “I was always good at being able to hold off on gratification, knowing where I wanted to go. So okay, I don’t have very much right now, but I know if I hustle, if I show up early, if I stay late, if I work hard, if I do what I need to do in three years, in five years, I’ll be where I want to be,” he explained. “Delaying that gratification is so huge for me… I have to make sacrifices now, because I know what the end goal is”.
He spent about three and a half years in developmental honing his craft, admitting that he was not a natural in the ring and struggled with self-doubt. “There are stories of people like Kurt Angle who just pick it up like that. I wasn’t one of those guys. It took me a while to get it,” he said. “So many of us struggle with imposter syndrome, and I’m definitely one of those people, too… the early part of my career never feeling like I was good enough, never feeling like I was ready”.
Ultimately, Big E said he learned that you can’t wait until you feel perfectly prepared to take a chance. “Sometimes you just have to, if that door opens, you just got to run with it. Sometimes you’re not really ready. You have to, you become ready on the job,” he stated. “It takes taking your lumps, it takes taking losses, it takes the setbacks, but eventually you get better. You learn from your mistakes and you get there. That’s been what life has taught me, is there was never any point where I really felt like I was fully ready”. Click below to watch the entire interview.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Stuck in my Thoughts podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
