Big E’s lone WWE championship reign began on an episode of Raw in mid-September 2021 when he cashed in the Money in the Bank contract and defeated Bobby Lashley. His title reign ended 110 days later at WWE Day 1 (Jan. 1, 2022) when Brock Lesnar pinned him in a five-way match that also included Lashley, Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens.
In a new interview with Sam Roberts, Big E said WWE’s original plan called for him to lose the gold at Day 1 to a different wrestler, with the idea of winning it back
a few months later at WrestleMania 38.
“Actually the plan was, what we were moving towards initially, it was supposed to me and Seth in a singles [match] at Day 1. I was supposed to drop the title to Seth. We come back at Mania, we do it again, I regain the title. That was originally [planned]. Things change all the time, so who knows what was meant.”
By the time December 2021 rolled around, those plans began to change into Lesnar winning the belt. Big E agreed with Roberts that Brock probably should have pinned someone else in the 5-way match to win the title, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“I too was of the same mindset, but ultimately, I have never pitched to not lose. If anything, we have, at times because of the story, we have pitched to lose. But look, this is Brock Lesnar. What am I gonna go in there and say actually, no, I think I need to retain? No, of course not. So more than anything it’s like, okay this is what we’re handed, this is the direction, so we’ll make the best of it.”
Just like with Kofi Kingston, Vince McMahon quickly removed Big E from the WWE championship scene and dumped him back into the tag team division after losing the belt to Brock. The cruel twist is that not only did Big E not get a WWE championship rematch at WrestleMania 38, but he suffered a career-ending broken neck in a tag team match on SmackDown within a month of the event. Who knows how all of that might have changed if Vince McMahon kept Big E as an upper card singles wrestler on the road to WrestleMania.
Do you think Big E was fed a line of bullshit by WWE about plans for him to win back the championship at WrestleMania 38, or is just another case of Vince McMahon tearing up the script and changing his mind on a whim? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.
