WWE Champion Big E recently spoke with Matty Paddock of The UK Independent and revealed how he was worried about his future with the company after the 2014 Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
The 2014 Extreme Rules pay-per-view saw Big E drop the WWE Intercontinental Title to Bad News Barrett, who is currently on the WWE NXT announce team. Calling that night one of his undoubted lows with the company, Big E recalled how he was getting booed as a babyface, and was told by WWE Hall of Famer and agent “Road Dogg” BG James that the company had nothing for him. Earlier that day Xavier Woods had pitched The New Day to him, and that group would form around 4 months later.
“I was in a program with Bad News Barrett,” Big E recalled. “He was super over and had that scissor lift and was getting great reactions. The night that I dropped the title, I was blowing my comeback and getting booed and, as a babyface, that’s the worst!
“When you’ve got your heel rocking and rolling and you’re getting booed… oh no! Things have gone awry! I ended up losing the title that night and it got to a point afterwards where [WWE agent] Road Dogg said: ‘We need to get you to work on something and find something because we have no plans for you right now.’ Thankfully, that same day [Xavier] Woods came up to me and pitched doing a faction. That took some time to get going of course!”
Big E also recalled another moment where he feared for his WWE future, when he received an e-mail telling him he’d no longer be required to travel to the weekly RAW taping. Before the brand split, such a message was often seen as a career death knell for some wrestlers.
“It said that [I] wasn’t going to Raw anymore and was only needed for SmackDown,” he recalled. “At the time it typically meant those people were either doing dark [non-televised] matches, and not long after were either back on [developmental show] NXT or were fired. For me that felt like, ‘Oh, my career is not going the way I wanted it to…’ and that I was either going to be either demoted or let go very soon.
“Those were moments where I thought, ‘I need a life raft here,’ and I’m very grateful that some idea, some person came along at the right time and kept my career afloat. I look back at those moments and I’m thankful that I survived, thankful that I could ride those waves and those rough times, and I’m still here.”
Big E will face-off with Drew McIntyre during tonight’s RAW episode from San Francisco. They will then do battle for the title at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 21.
Stay tuned for more.
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