As John Cena prepares to call it a career after two decades at the top of the WWE Universe, fans, pundits, and his fellow wrestlers alike have been feeling nostalgic about “The Champ,” strolling down memory lane to revisit all of his greatest moments.
One such reminiscer who actually falls into all three categories is Big E, who, in an interview on Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez, was asked about Cena's impact on the industry as he prepares for a 2025 farewell tour. While Cena has done more than most ever will in a WWE ring, for Big E, his favorite moment was one of his own career highlights, as it was an example of “The Champ” putting him over in a massive way.
“He's done so much. Selfishly, I would say my one moment is my debut. My debut in Philly in 2012 was me leaving him laying, standing over him to close the show. That moment means so much because debuting on the main roster is incredible for everyone. But debuting like that, debuting, getting to stand over arguably the greatest of all time, he's red-hot, he is clearly the guy, so that meant a lot to me. But yeah, there's so many different thing,” Big E told Adrian Hernandez via Fightful.
“We had, I think about a year later, there was a backstage segment that led to a match, I think we wrestled The Shield, but it was me, Punk, and Cena, and there's a deal where Renee was the interviewer at the time, we all put out hands in and did a little Shield deal. Even that moment of, like, man, I'm young in my career, but just being able to be in the ring with a guy like CM Punk, with John Cena, and me, man, there are so many incredible moments. I think back to so many times when I first came on the road, it was always, ‘Oh, Cena's match is about to be up,' and so many of us would be peeking out in front of the crowd because that Cena pop is different.
“Another thing, when I first came on the main roster, it was Cena and Dolph [Ziggler] wrestling every single night. I remember one of my first main roster shows, we were doing MSG, they had a cage match, and to be there in New York during Cena's prime, wrestling Dolph, who is red-hot as well in the main event, to have the best seat in the house, I'm standing there and I'm getting to see greatness. I'm getting to see how he manipulates the crowd.
“He made so many special moments for our fans, for people, for talent, for us to see what it's like to be the guy, to have that kind of reaction. So salute to everything that everything that Cena has done for our industry and even all the Make-a-Wishes as well. It's really inspiring. He's done a lot. A lot is an understatement, but he's done so much for our industry and our business, so salute to him.”
Before Big E was all about pancakes, Booty-Os, and telling people how much New Day rocks, he was Big E Langston, who debuted on the main roster after a successful run in NXT by dropping “The Champ” as the enforcer of AJ Lee. While fans aren't as fond of this proto-Big E when compared to the character he eventually became, it's worth wondering if New Day would have even become New Day had Cena not put the future WWE Champion over at the top of his main roster career. For that and so much more, Cena deserves his flowers.
Big E updates fans on his neck recovery process
Turning his attention from the past to his wrestling future, be that in a WWE ring or at a commentary booth, Big E told Chris Vannini on Getting Over about his recovery process from a brutal broken neck in March of 2022, noting that he is slowly but surely navigating the recovery process.
“Now we're at two years and running since I broke my neck. I broke my C1 in two places, my C6 as well. I feel great. I have no issues with pain, no issues with discomfort, weakness, any of those things,” Big E told Chris Vannini via Fightful. “My strength is great. The only issue is my C1 is healing fibrously, which is great for normal day-to-day life, but it's not turning into new bone and ossifying yet. They're not going to clear me until that happens. It's obviously a very important bone. Right now, that is the waiting game. I did go to Cancun about a month ago for stem cells. We'll see if that changes anything. Right now, I feel great, I'm just not in a position to be cleared quite yet.”
Will Big E ever get cleared to wrestle once more? Potentially so but as he's pointed out before, even if that day comes, he may not ultimately decide to continue on with his wrestling career, as after narrowly dodging a life-altering injury his priorities may have shifted away from full-time professional wrestling. While unfortunate for the fans who love him, no one can blame him for putting his physical wellbeing first.