Big E. is pumped up for WWE Royal Rumble Week.
During an appearance on the Raw Recap podcast, the former WWE Champion gave his predictions for the winners of the Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble matches, his thoughts on AJ Styles’ retirement, as well as how fans were robbed of a Finn Balor babyface turn.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On his predictions for winners of Royal Rumble: “I’m still going to take a night to mull over the paperwork, but I’m still going to Oba Femi to win the men’s Royal Rumble, and you know what? I’m going to go with The Prodigy, Roxanne Perez Yes, yes, yes. Well, what, was it last year that she went an hour in the Rumble? A very, very talented woman who I think, I love when the Rumble is a lot of people who are just really talented, but you’re not expecting that this is the year, but you see them take that leap. I think this is the year that Roxanne Perez takes a big leap.”
On fans being robbed of a Finn Balor babyface turn: “He got me! I was so excited for this new turn, the new Finn Balor. I think of him as a peer of a CM Punk or an AJ Styles, those guys really changed the game. What they did on the indies really helped shape what wrestling looked like in WWE for years to come. The thought of Finn breaking from the Judgment Day, carving out his own path, making a World Title run as a beloved (babyface) even just getting to see glimpses of his old entrance the week prior and seeing the way the fans in Ireland took to him, that was such a beautiful moment and I thought for a split second we were going to get that Finn Balor again and we were robbed. We were all robbed!”
On AJ Styles retirement: “I will say the one thing I respect, if this is it, we’re not seeing a diminished version of AJ Styles. We never saw a diminished version of it. I don’t even think he missed a beat a little bit. You know, there was some discussion with Cena and his run, whether he still had it at some point, still put on great matches. But you started to wonder if, you know, if he wasn’t quite the same Super Cena we were used to. I haven’t had that question once with AJ. I’ve seen someone who, you know, I’ve had a chance to talk to him about you know, about this being the last year in the locker room, and he’s someone who takes so much pride in his work. He is someone who refuses- he doesn’t ever want fans to see even a slightly diminished version of AJ Styles. The thing is, like, man, he could go into his 50s. I really think so. With the way he takes care of his body, he still has the same athleticism he had when I first was in the ring with him, what, a decade ago? His run is really, truly remarkable. To be at his age in his late 40s, and to still be so crisp, man. If this was indeed his last RAW, what a run, what an incredible run. I know we’re not here eulogizing him yet. I know he still has that opportunity to beat Gunther and keep competing in his career. But man, truly the best guy from a technical standpoint I’ve ever been in the ring with. The blend of explosiveness, of creativity, of technical, he just has it all, truly has it all. And a guy that really shaped the industry in such a beautiful way.”
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