BOSTON – It has been more than a week since Day 1, providing Big E time to reflect on his first career as a WWE Champion.
“I wanted it to be a five-course meal and more of an appetizer,” says Ettore “Big E” Ewen. “To begin with, I am too critical of my work, so I would not say that I am happy with it. My hope was to get him out of the park, and I came up a bit short. So it’s motivating to start that climb back. “
Just a month ago, Big E’s reign as WWE Champion was just beginning to take shape.
Engaged in a fight with Seth Rollins, Big E had found the right opponent, one with whom he could build a signature moment as a champion. The story built for a match in the past week Day 1 pay-per-view, which soon became a triple threat with Kevin Owens, who also shared real chemistry with Big E, and then changed to four with the addition of Bobby Lashley. Although there is no better scenario than one-on-one, it suddenly became an opportunity for Big E to show resilience and perseverance against three elite opponents, giving him the opportunity to reach the next step in his ascent as champion.
“Initially, it was supposed to be Seth and me,” Ewen said. “Seth was named the No. 1 contender from the beginning, so we had some time, and that’s when I fought Kevin. That worked really well, so they added him to the match, and then Bobby did too. So what it became was very different from what it was supposed to be. “
Roman Reigns tested positive for COVID-19, eliminating any chance of him fighting Brock Lesnar on the show. But Lesnar quickly found a match.
“I came into the building thinking we were going to have our quartet,” Ewen said. “I didn’t know Roman wasn’t available until that afternoon, a few hours before the show. That threw a wrench into our match, as well as ripple effects for Raw Y Slap. “
Lesnar was moved into the WWE title match, making him a five-way winner. Presented as a conquering hero, he pinned Big E to crown himself the new champion. In the midst of the celebration, Lesnar quickly started a new fight with Lashley. A long-awaited show from Lesnar-Lashley, as well as the verbal confrontation between Paul Heyman and MVP, give plenty of reason for excitement. But for the large portion of the fanbase who enjoyed every Big E moment as a champion, there is a huge question mark as to what will happen next.
Speaking at the WWE live event in Boston on Sunday, Ewen sat backstage before the start of the show. Hours before teaming up with the Viking Raiders in the main event against Reigns and The Usos, he had already worked out before donning a Nike tracksuit and his Iowa Hawkeyes winter cap. He was asked about his future: will he emerge as a challenger for Lesnar? Or be chosen for a new role, distanced from the world title?
“I don’t feel comfortable being just one guy on the list,” Ewen said. “I’m not good at going back to being like before.”
If Big E’s current situation sounds familiar, it’s because a similar scenario happened to his close friend and New Day associate, Kofi Kingston.
After a six-month WWE title run, Kingston unceremoniously dropped the belt to Lesnar in Slap in October 2019. Instead of a rematch against Lesnar, Kingston immediately returned to the tag team scene. He eventually made a title effort in July 2021, where he lost to Lashley in Money in the bank. Despite his talent, charisma and brilliance in the ring, Kingston has never been a WWE champion again.
Could that also become Big E’s fate?
“I don’t want to position it as learning from Kofi’s missteps,” says Ewen. “I know what his intentions were, and mine would have been the same. He did nothing wrong. But I have learned that losing this title hurts.
“I love being myself and being entertaining, but you can’t go from losing a world championship to saying that everything is gold. This title meant a lot to me, and it also meant a lot to a lot of people. My focus is to return to that place ”.
Since winning the title in Boston in September, Big E has become a face of the WWE brand. As a champion, he featured WWE on several different platforms, including that of the MLB Network. Cinema, popular syndicated radio show The breakfast club, the “Just a question”Segment in The Last Show with Stephen Colbert, and NFL Network Good morning soccer. He also played a role in the boxing match between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder with his introductionsas well as made an appearance on Fox’s Great start to noon during college football season.
Testing WWE’s representation as their champion has only made Ewen hungrier for another chance to redefine those roles and responsibilities.
“There are a lot of things that come with being a WWE Champion, and I was very proud of that,” Ewen said. “Continuing Breakfast club and doing media across the country, I know all the good that came with this and all that we were able to do outside of the ring. And there is much more to achieve ”.
One of the most enduring moments of Day 1 Big E was sitting outside the ring, with a real look of pain and devastation on his face. Pro wrestling is often mocked as fake, but that moment, a dejected champion who had just lost his title, felt real.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to see it end up that way,” Ewen said. “And it’s nothing against Brock. Brock is a very special athlete, human, and performer. There is no shame in losing to Brock Lesnar.
“I took a moment to sink into sadness. The highest win, as in Money in the bank or charging, those are amazing. But the lows suck too. And that is the motivation to feed myself ”.
Now it is simply a hypothesis, but if Lesnar had not been inserted into the match, it is possible that Big E was still champion.
“I never heard an ending [for the four-way]Ewen said. “When it became a four-way, especially one that loaded, anything was a possibility. But I hadn’t heard anything about an ending. “
The only certainty for a champion is that he will eventually lose the belt. Indirectly, losing the title to Lesnar could be the best possible scenario for Big E. Already established as a world champion, he can now reveal an advantage and intensity in his work. and with him Royal rumble just a few weeks away, the time is right. If Big E can generate a surge of support in the coming weeks, there is every reason to believe that he could be the last man standing at the famous Royal Rumble.
“Winning the Rumble would be amazing,” Ewen said. “That’s in St. Louis in a great location at The Dome, and it would be a real moment.
“This is my chance to show another side of me. It is time to turn up the intensity. My role in The New Day is often comic relief, but I don’t want to be one-dimensional. I want to be as complete and complete an interpreter as possible ”.
Big E’s possibilities are limitless, especially as a champion. There was no pomp or pyrotechnics during Big E’s title race, but a second race, with The New Day at his side, would be a different and dynamic performance. However, to rewrite the story, you will need to generate significant momentum to get back into the center of the main picture.
“I am very grateful for my title run, but I still have so much more to prove,” said Ewen. “I want to establish myself as one of the boys of this age, so my goal is to build multiple kingdoms.
“There is so much more I need to do with that title. We are just getting started, and this is my chance to start my climb back. “
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Justin Barrasso can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Justinbarrasso.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.