Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe stirred controversy during his guest commentary appearance on this past Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, where he made an offhand remark about Big E’s life-altering neck injury.
Hinchcliffe was at ringside to promote the upcoming Roast of WrestleMania event during a tag team match between The New Day and The War Raiders. While calling the match, he quipped that Big E’s neck was “the only thing stiffer than Michael Cole” — a comment that immediately drew backlash on social media, with many fans calling it insensitive given the severity of Big E’s real-life injury.
Big E, a former WWE Champion who suffered a broken C1 and C6 vertebrae in 2022, has not been medically cleared to return to in-ring competition and may never wrestle again. He has remained gracious and positive in public but has been candid about the uncertainty surrounding his future in the ring.
Big E addressed the remark on WWE’s Raw Recap podcast. [Click here to read his full comments.]
According to Fightful Select, several individuals backstage acknowledged that the segment “came across as a dud,” and noted that Hinchcliffe’s joke fell flat in the moment. However, they also emphasized that Hinchcliffe himself was “very respectful” throughout the day behind the scenes at the show.
The controversial comment has added fuel to the conversation surrounding the boundaries of roast-style humor in a professional wrestling setting — particularly when it intersects with real-life injuries and careers potentially cut short.
