Opinion: The time is now for WWE to finally push Big E
On the latest episode of WWE SmackDown, Kofi Kingston announced to Big E that he has a back injury and will be out for at least six weeks. He also said that Big E has the blessing of the other two members of The New Day to become a singles competitor. Big E was reluctant at first but ultimately accepted.
After many years, it is finally time for Big E's singles run in WWE and him to be pushed to the moon.
While Big E is mostly known for his tenure with The New Day, many forget that Big E has an impressive singles career as well in WWE. In 2013, he defeated Seth Rollins to win the NXT Championship. He heled it for almost six months before dropping it to Bo Dallas. In November of the very same year, Big E defeated Curtis Axel to win the Intercontinental Championship. He heled the title for 167 days before dropping it to Bad News Barrett. Later that year, The New Day was formed and the rest is history.
As you can see, Big E already has had success as a singles competitor in WWE, and with more experience under his belt now, this upcoming run can be even better. Big E is charismatic and is solid in the ring, so he has all of the tools to be a main event player. There were even rumblings that Vince McMahon wanted to push Big E in 2014, but Triple H wanted to push Roman Reigns. So, it is evident that the company has always been high on Big E, even if the majority of his main roster run has been with a stable.
The consensus from the WWE Universe since The New Day was formed was that Big E would be the breakout star of the stable, with Kofi Kingston already being a known entity, and Xavier Woods was considered the "weak link" of the three. Woods has grown so much in the six years The New Day has been together that he is no longer the weak link and would do fine as a singles competitor, but Big E still has the highest ceiling.
Another positive is that Big E can play both a babyface or a heel very well. WWE can push him as the lovable, goofy babyface who is serious when it matters, much like Kofi Kingston. He could also play a monster heel. WWE can go in either direction with this push. WWE can push Big E as the babyface that is fighting for his brothers in The New Day and as the up that has been waiting years for this opportunity. They can also start Big E as a babyface, but slowly turn him heel with the story being that he doesn't need anyone's blessing and he does what he wants.
Big E can even bring back his "five" gimmick he did in NXT, where he would have the referee count to 5 instead of the usual three count for the win.
In addition to Big E finally getting a singles run, this can be a way for WWE to finally break up The New Day without having one or two of them turn heel. One of the major complaints about The New Day over the past few years is that they have grown stale and boring with the childish gimmicks. There was a perfect opportunity to break them up during the 'Kofimania' storyline last year and the aftermath, but they never did. The New Day break up/feud has been anticipated for years and it is arguably on the same level as the Shield Triple Threat hype that fans had. The WWE Universe wanted Big E to be the one to turn since he is the most believable heel out of the three and has the highest ceiling.
Whatever happened next, it is about time that Big E gets his singles push, although many would have liked the circumstances to be different. If WWE books him correctly and gets behind him 100%, he can become the huge singles star he was touted to be years ago. The first step in that process should be a feud for the Intercontinental Championship against AJ Styles beginning at SummerSlam.