Big E ‘at peace’ if WWE in-ring career is over, excited to explore new paths

Big E penned a column for The Players Tribune reflecting on 10 years of New Day. 

Tonight’s episode of WWE Raw will feature a tribute to the group despite the recent dissension between Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston. E says he’ll always be grateful for their “life-changing” run together. 

“I’m someone who spent a lot of his past not being able to picture a future,” E wrote. “And I think about that so much when I look back on the story of our group. I think about all the different things we’ve accomplished, and been through, and come to represent. Things I’m truly proud of. Not in a self-aggrandizing way, or a self-important way — never that. But in a way that is just, like…… LIFE. Some of it’s crushing failure. Some of it’s wild success. Some of it’s deeply silly. Some of it’s quite serious. Some of it’s cringe as hell. Some of it’s cool as hell. Some of it’s painful. Some of it’s joyful. And every now and then, if you get really lucky, some of it’s meaningful.”

E wrote about Xavier Woods approaching him about pitching management on a group featuring them and Kofi Kingston. Woods’ initial idea was to re-create The Nation of Domination.

“Actually, Woods’s initial idea for The New Day was to reboot the Nation of Domination, the Attitude Era group that The Rock got his start in. The Nation was a faction of Black militants. And while it had a lot of cool moments (and those guys are all legends) … Woods, Kofi and I are not militants. But I think that just tells you what it’s been like at times to be a young Black wrestler trying to make it. You pitch based on what you feel will get you on TV. And what you feel will get you on TV is probably what’s gotten on TV before. And what’s gotten on TV before is a very narrow definition of Blackness.”

New Day debuted as babyfaces with a gospel-type gimmick, which E says was tough.

“I played around with a bunch of different deliveries. And the one thing they liked was when I started using this voice that was kind of this Apostolic style of preaching — the style I grew up with. Then I guess the office heard it, and decided, you know, Let’s lean into the gospel!!! Because for some reason they were enamored by the southern Black church. That was a tough one. Black gospel is not who I am, and it’s definitely not who Kofi and Woods are. But we weren’t really in a position to push back on it.”

After being booed by fans as babyfaces, New Day turned heel and began leaning into things they couldn’t as babyfaces. Then, what they were doing resonated with so many people that they turned babyface again, but they were able to do so in a way that E says felt more authentic. 

“I grew up thinking that Black lit had to be this one thing, or maybe these one or two things, way over here. And then I realized, no, that’s not true. It could also be this thing. And if it could be this thing … Well, then, I guess it could also be this thing, and this thing, and this, and this, and this. And you just keep going and going until the world isn’t so small anymore. Until suddenly it’s a lot more than just books that can be anything. Music can be anything. Movies can be anything. Anime can be anything. TV can be anything. Gaming can be anything. Culture can be anything. Blackness can be anything. Xavier Woods the weird dude from FCW playing “New York, New York” on his trombone in front of 15,000 people at Barclays Center can be anything. Wrestling can be anything. The New Day can be anything. The New Day can be anything. THE NEW DAY CAN BE ANYTHING!!!!!!”

“You know what I mean?? You realize three Black wrestlers contain multitudes and all of a sudden there is a universal language. It’s being seen. That’s what wrestling is — that’s what culture is. That’s what fandom is. S*** is infinite.”

E suffered a severe neck injury on the March 11, 2022, edition of WWE SmackDown and hasn’t wrestled since. It’s unclear if he’ll ever wrestle again, but E is excited about what the future holds both in WWE and outside the company.

“You know that thing I said earlier — how I’m someone who spent his past not being able to picture a future? I can picture one now. Which is ironic, I guess, since I broke my neck and can’t wrestle. But I’m at peace. And if that’s truly a wrap on my in-ring career……. I’m excited to explore the paths that are opening up for me in its wake. Whether it’s working for WWE outside of the ring, or it’s hosting, or acting, or voice work, or filmmaking, or so many other things. I feel like there are still so many parts of myself for me to discover. I feel like I’ve spent the last 10 years with Woods and Kofi on this amazing, life-changing project: trying to perform a version of wrestling that’s in the image of all the things we love. And now I want to find out how far I can stretch that project past wrestling. I want to see if I can actually create some of those things we love.”

E also opened up about a new relationship in his life, a partner named Kristen, whom he has been with for a year. Kristen is Michin’s sister, and their first date was at the Hulu premiere for Montez Ford and Bianca Belair’s reality series. 

“I just felt an energy with Kristen I’d never felt before. We were at this premiere with all these beautiful people, all these famous actors and entertainers, and none of them even registered. For me, there was only one other person in the room that night. And what’s crazy is, I knew I wanted to see her more after that — but if I hadn’t been out with my broken neck? I probably would have been too busy to make it happen. Instead, it’s like it all just fell into place. Now we’re planning to get married … we bought a home together in Oakland … I don’t know, man. It’s a good feeling. I’m excited about what’s possible.”

“And maybe that’s the best thing I could say about this last decade — about this journey I’ve been able to go on with Woods, and Kofi, and (somehow) millions of people around the world. I don’t know if The New Day saved my career, or my life. But I know it turned them both into things where anything feels possible. And I’ll always be grateful for that.”

E’s full column is available here.