WWE champion Big E recently spoke with Sportsnet about all things pro-wrestling, which included the champ calling WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg his childhood hero, and how he actually was “making noise” about potentially facing Goldberg at last months Crown Jewel pay per view in Saudi Arabia. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
How he wanted a match with Goldberg at Crown Jewel:
“I was trying to make some noise for this Goldberg match at Crown Jewel, but that clearly [didn’t happen],” Big E said. “It would have been really full circle. He was my childhood hero and idol, and I’ve spoken effusively about that.”
On winning the WWE championship:
“I felt like the title win was pretty special, it’s hard to top that. It was really nice to go back to Iowa City and get that kind of reception. I wasn’t a star there by any means. I had a bunch of injuries, I was only on the field for one season, was never a starter, so you never really know (what the reception would be like) but it was very heartwarming to be received so well. Also, so many of my teammates that I hadn’t seen in over a decade said so many kind things. Life happens and people move on so you kind of lose contact. But there’s a real brotherhood so hearing from so many guys that had been following my career and had been so proud of me, was very heartwarming.”
On black representation in wrestling:
“I think it’s really cool. When you look around at the landscape of our industry, in WWE and outside of WWE, it just feels like a really good time to be a Black professional wrestler, whether you’re a man or a woman. I look around and I see so many stars. And what I love, too, is when I look at our roster I don’t see a bunch of people who were given these opportunities and these positions merely because of the colour of their skin, as some kind of a quota system. You look at a Bianca (Belair), you look at a Sasha (Banks) and they’re undeniable to me. They are clearly unique. Same thing with Kofi (Kingston) and (Xavier) Woods, and Bobby Lashley and you can go on and on, there are just so many really, really talented Black wrestlers.”