Special analysis: Has Big E been dumped from WWE singles title contention?
What has happened to Big E? Why is he out of the elite group of top tier title contenders in WWE?
January 1st, 2022 saw Big E attempt to defend his WWE Championship in a Fatal 5-Way match at the Day 1 premium live event. The match featured the likes of Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and of course, Brock Lesnar. The match ended with The Beast Incarnate hitting an F-5 on the champion and pinning him for the title.
Ever since, it seems as if Big E no longer has championship gold in his sights. Instead, he has realigned with his old New Day teammates Xavier "King" Woods and Kofi Kingston.
"There is a simple reason behind that," Jerry Williams, a passionate wrestling columnist at the UK's now defunct Total Wrestling magazine, told me. "As good as Big E looks and as good as he performs in the ring, he's doubting himself. He has been dumped from title contention because he clearly is scared of a one-on-one match with Lesnar at this point. It will show all his weaknesses. He had so much confidence that he would retain the title in the 'Fatal Five Way' he can't deal with the loss. So he's decided to scale down, hide behind his New Day pals, have some fun, and not have to deal with a Lesnar threat. Why should he risk breaking his neck in Suplex City? Crunch, it's all over once the Beast Incarnate gets you into that zone!"
Another "King" who was crowned long before "King" Woods was born, Jerry "The King" Lawler, says that's not true.
"Big E is fearless. He's not afraid of Brock Lesnar or anyone for that matter," he said. "Making sense of why he's not being put in with Lesnar in a singles match is simple if you know the wrestling business. When Big E. was champion it was a great time for him and for his fans. But did you notice that during all his title matches, no matter how long he had been out of the New Day, fans would still chant, 'New day rocks,' over-and-over and it inspired him. It gave him that extra adrenalin that pushed him onto victory.
"So going back to my point, the WWE bookers and promoters felt that the fans want him back at part of New Day. The three of them were magic together. Look how the fans are reacting to them back as a unit again. This doesn't mean Big E is out of title contention. He's a former WWE Champion and he'll get his chance in the title spotlight again, but right now it's enjoyable having New Day back even if it's just Big E and Kofi, or with King Woods, or all three of them together. Hey, New Day rocks so enjoy it as long as it lasts! He has not been dumped from title contention. He's just doing the New Day thing right now."
Brad Gilmore is the co-host of Booker T's Hall of Fame podcast and an interviewer for Sportskeeda. We had a long talk a few days ago about Big E's career. I find his insider views quite interesting.
“I think Big E was a victim of timing and circumstances. He was without a doubt the right person to win the 'Money in the Bank' briefcase and the fan base wanted to see Big E get to that main event spot and he did! However, his run came right before WrestleMania season and this was part of the problem. WWE wants big names in their main event scene for 'Mania, especially since they are trying to fill a 100,000 seat stadium two nights in a row and unfortunately, Big E just isn’t there — yet. Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns make the most sense for a main event title match at WrestleMania this year and Big E just didn’t have enough time during his run to elevate to that level. WWE made the decision to put him on the back burner for now, but I don’t think it will be for long."
Gilmore further elaborated on how Big E will return to the main event scene and what he needs to do before he gets there.
"As far as getting back into the title picture, Big E will find himself back in the main event scene. What he needs to do is continue the character metamorphosis he was on during the latter portion of his run. Big E began to cut off some of the sophomoric antics and started to become a believable threat to everyone who stepped in the ring against him. He’s got size, he can work and he gives an entertaining promo — all the tools for his success are there. Once ‘Mania season comes to an end, I am hopeful we will see Big E in the main event mix again. Having said that, we’ve seen in recent history an elevation of an upper-mid card stars to the main event scene like Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre, and others, but for whatever reason they don’t stay at that level for a prolonged and sustained period of time, we can only wait and see if that same fate waits for Big E, I for one am pulling for him to be back on top come the summertime.”
As for my take, Big E should have stayed on top much longer than his 110 day reign. Fans loved him as WWE Champion. He was excellent in that role and was only just getting started before he lost the title.
Yes, New Day rocks. However, Big E can rock just as well and perhaps better on his own!