Big E reveals Curt Hawkins gave him his finisher; says he stole Samoa Joe's move
Big E was split up from his New Day brothers Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in the 2020 WWE Draft. Big E was drafted to SmackDown, while the other two were drafted to RAW earlier this month.
On After The Bell with Corey Graves, the SmackDown commentator asked Big E if there has been anybody apart from his New Day stablemates who have had a big impact on him. Big E said that there's been a lot of people that have helped him.
Big E on Curt Hawkins giving him his finisher
Big E revealed that former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins helped him at the start of his career by giving him his finisher:
"There's been a lot of people along the way... I feel like, just kind of a lot of people who have been there and helped me. Curt Hawkins - when I was super green - my only finisher I've ever used is the Big Ending. The one finish I've always had is the Big Ending. I remember Curt Hawkins gave that to me in 2009. I think he'd been on the road and he was back. For some reason, We were just kind of in the ring... I think there was - I'm not sure of the worker, I should know this - it was called the bodybag and he showed it to me. I forgot how he came up with the Big Ending. But, yeah, a guy like Curt Hawkins giving me that."
Big E revealed that former WWE Superstar Darren Young helped him in the ring, while former Nexus member Michael Tarver also helped Big E a lot at the start of his career.
The former SmackDown Tag Team champion said that Joey Mercury, who was with WWE until 2017, helped him fine tune things, and also steal a move from Samoa Joe.
"Joey Mercury, too, I got to give him a lot of props as Mercury was one guy... I feel like I had a very basic moveset, and Mercury was the one guy who helped fine tune things. He was the one who - at the time Samoa Joe wasn't with the company, he said 'we'll just steal Joe's corner uranage.'"
Big E also thanked Fit Finlay for helping him with a moveset at the start of his career.
Curt Hawkins was with WWE from 2006 to 2014, before wrestling in other promotions and returning in 2016. He was released by WWE earlier this year and is currently with IMPACT Wrestling.
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