Big E reveals Vince McMahon's initial reaction to him taking a knee on TV
Big E is a WWE Superstar that many fans wanted to see pushed. It looks like Vince McMahon has heard the voice of the WWE Universe and paid the Superstar his due.
This week's episode of WWE SmackDown saw the beginning of Big E's singles run. The New Day member beat The Miz with a brand new submission move that he added to his arsenal. It was earlier revealed that Daniel Bryan was the person who pitched the idea to Vince McMahon.
Big E on Vince McMahon's reaction to him taking a knee
A few weeks back, Big E and Kofi Kingston took a knee on WWE SmackDown as a sign of respect and solidarity following the death of George Floyd. Big E spoke about that moment in an interview with Yahoo! Sports. During the conversation, the WWE SmackDown Superstar spoke about what he expected from the singles run he is on and Vince McMahon's reaction to him and Kofi Kingston's idea of taking a knee.
“When Kofi and I got to the Performance Center that day, we felt like we had to do something. We went and had a conversation with our boss, Vince McMahon, and he was completely on board. We felt like that even if it was just a five-second gesture, it was important to let people know that the things that affected them, we were feeling too. We’re not above this because we’re on TV or because we make money, we’re still people. I was born Black, I will die Black, I have lived my life as Black American much longer than I will ever be a WWE wrestler.”
Big E went on to talk about how George Floyd's death affected him:
“Right after George Floyd passed, we had lengthy conversations, the three of us in our text group. I can’t think of anything that hit me so much in my lifetime. I think a lot of it had to do with the pandemic and the fact that we had all of this time to think. There were very few distractions. It was something I kept thinking about day and night. It really weighed on me. I felt that even though I didn’t know how to change the structure or end systemic racism, I wanted to do something with my anger and frustration, I wanted to do something positive and we were all on the same page with that.”