WWE veteran Big E appeared on Notsam Wrestling to discuss his early days in the company and the challenges he faced.
Big E said, “My first year or so on the road wasn’t always easy. Especially — the stuff with like Dolph and AJ were great. I loved being able to be teamed with them. So that was great for me. But then when I was done with Dolph, I went with AJ. And I still had something and I was still featured. But after that, it was it was a tough time. And you know, you’re getting a lot of different feedback… so also my initial main roster one run is a little odd. Because at the same time, I’m this silent [character]. Paul Heyman pulled me aside, and the idea was for me to be stoic, not to really show emotion. So I do that. I’m this silent emotionless heater or bodyguard on the main roster as a heel. Then I’m going directly back down to NXT, where I’m the NXT champion. And I’m like, ‘Are we are we putting the title on the main roster? Are we using that at all?’ And like, no mention of it, pretend like it’s in another universe. So I’m going back down to NXT where I’m this babyface who was doing the five count.”
On the disconnect between the two characters:
“But that was the direction. And so I just — you know, at the time like I don’t have any poll. I’m 26 and it’s just like, ‘This is what the boss wants, this is what we’re doing.’
On Kaitlyn helping him out:
“And there were definitely some ups and downs. I credit Celeste Bonin, aka Kaitlyn, who helped me out. We were just like such good, good friends and still are to this day. Obviously, it’s hard when you don’t see each other as much, so we don’t talk as much as we used to, but the love is still there. But she helped me through a lot of that, and I think we both kind of needed each other at the time where we’re both kind of floundering at times in our career. But more than anything man, I credit — you know, once Kofi, Woods and I, we all got together. Those guys like, man, we had such a tight bond.”
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(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
