Big E has looked back on his time in The New Day and how a former WWE Champion tried to advise him to break away from the group.
The former NXT Champion made a major impression in his main roster debut when he attacked John Cena and aligned himself with AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler, serving as an enforcer for the latter. Following a run with the Intercontinental Championship, Big E later joined Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in 2014 to form the faction The New Day.
Although the group found success individually and in the tag team division, and are now regarded as one of the best factions in the modern era, the beginning of The New Day was not an easy ride for the trio. First debuting as preachers and rejected by the fans, some in the company thought that they were making a mistake, including a veteran.
The powerhouse of The New Day appeared on K&C Masterpiece live to speak about his time in the faction. When speaking about their beginnings, the former WWE Champion spoke about The Big Show and how the World’s Largest Athlete thought that Big E made the wrong decision, but added that The Big Show later admitted he was wrong:
“It was such a roller coaster ride. You know, getting the idea off the ground took us so long, and it was so difficult, and there were so many no’s, so many people backstage who laughed at us, and we tell this story often, Big Show pulling Kofi aside in front of us, in front of me and Woods, and saying, ‘what are you doing with these guys? You’re wasting your time’. He wasn’t joking, and I mentioned Big Show. There are other people I won’t name. I mentioned Big Show because Big Show later came to us and apologized and said ‘I was completely wrong.’
Big E Looks Back On The Best Of The New Day
Proving the doubters wrong, The New Day had a number of standout moments including Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 and their Hell in a Cell match against The Usos. Reflecting on the group’s legacy, Big E admitted he had no regrets over how things played out:
But we had some real difficulties getting the thing off the ground. But it was so rewarding for us because we just came together through it all, and we said, ‘look, we’re going to do things our way, and if we fail doing things in our own way, I’m OK with that.’ But doing things someone else’s way and failing, we just weren’t OK with that. So we wanted to sink or swim. based on our own merits, and then when this thing finally took off, man, it’s so cool to be able to look back at KofiMania, to look back at the Hell in a Cell match. I took a Rock Bottom. We were the number one merch movers at the Dallas during that year in 2016. But man, we had such a blast. And looking back now, my time in the ring is over doing stuff on the commentary side. But I can look back now, and I have no regrets because there are so many times with Kofi and Woods, we spent crying, laughing. We really enjoyed it, and I think too often in our business, so many guys get jaded. They worry about their push. They don’t really enjoy the experience, and I can look back and think, man, I knew I was in the good old days when I was in the good old days. I don’t go back and regret it. But I knew then, hey, soak it all up. Be present because these are memories. Man, I have had such an incredible career. I talk about wrestling Randy Orton in South Africa. I’ve wrestled in Japan more times than I can count. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve had so many incredible experiences, and being able to entertain people truly across the globe has been one of life’s greatest joys.”
After suffering a broken neck in March 2022, Big E has not wrestled again, but has remained a part of the company as a panellist. The former WWE Champion was later kicked out of The New Day in late 2024 as part of Woods and Kingston’s heel turn.
H/t to Fightful for the use of transcriptions.
Featured image: WWE
