WWE star and one third of the tag team champions Big E recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard, and below are some interview highlights:
SI.com: The New Day are becoming a bigger part of storylines every week, you headlined against Cena on Raw recently, what’s it like being trusted with that slot?
Big E: I think we all thought we’d be good enough to get to this point. The biggest thing was our character and not looking like three guys that were thrown together.The last three to four months have been an absolute blast. It’s been the most fun I’ve had between the three of us. It doesn’t feel like we’re being forced down people’s throat which is great.
SI.com: We all knew you were a funny a guy, anyone who follows you onTwitter or Instagram knows that. But we didn’t really get to see it on TV during your IC title reign or when you were with Ziggler. It feels like you’re finally being able to be yourself with The New Day, has that been nice?
Big E: Part of the whole point of doing those Instagram videos was showing people that I had a different side of me. My whole time on the main roster was me being a stoic bodyguard, and I was still pretty stoic during the Intercontinental Title run. A lot of the promos didn’t feel like me, and I didn’t feel like I was captivating any attention. I wanted to show people that I had a personality. So yeah it’s been really nice to get a chance to show that on TV.
SI.com: If you could add a fourth member to The New Day, who would it be?
Big E: Sasha Banks, no question. She’s probably my favorite wrestler on the planet right now. The stuff she’s done with Bayley have been tremendous, both at Takeover: Brooklyn and the Iron Man Match. We’ve got a lot of respect for her, she’s on another level.
SI.com: You’ve had some ups and downs on the main roster and before The New Day happened you weren’t on TV much. Did you ever get discouraged?
Big E: I was extremely discouraged. You get to the point where you’re off TV and you look at the landscape around you and you’re like ‘Woah there’s not a lot for me,’ and it doesn’t turn around for a lot of guys like it has for us. We spent a lot of time working on this, and I think some younger people don’t understand how much work we put in. There are plenty of instances of ‘Oh this thing is dead in the water,’ or ‘Oh this thing is never going to work,’ but we were fortunate enough to persevere and get it off the ground. That’s the key. Sink or swim, we believed so much in this idea.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
