During his recent interview with the Undefeated WWE champion Big E spoke about his big victory over Bobby Lashley on Raw several weeks ago, and how he hopes his reign as champion can inspire many. He also discusses the incredible depth of talented black wrestlers in the industry today. Highlights are below.
How representation is essential to him:
“Representation is essential to me … I really hope that my [championship] win allows everyone to be inspired, but specifically young Black men and women who enjoy wrestling. To think, ‘This is something that I can do and there won’t be obstacles in my way simply because I don’t look a certain way.’ Whether they want to wrestle or not, I just hope it allows people to say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to be put into a box, I’m not going to have to change who I am to get to where I want in life.’ If I can be that for people, I think that’s really beautiful and humbling.”
On the crowd pop after his WWE title win:
“When that Wale tune hit that I come out to and people lost it, that was really beautiful. That’s what makes that moment special to me. That pop, that reaction. One of the biggest things to me is just getting back to everyone, all of the missed texts. I had 144 missed texts. … Not to mention all the DMs. Everyone has just been so overwhelmingly positive and kind.”
On the number of talented black wrestlers in the industry:
“I love that we can look around inside of WWE and outside of WWE and see this real depth of Black wrestlers that are really dope, and there’s so many of us. And I hope we get to a point where it’s just normal.”