When Big E came down bad on his neck after a Ridge Holland release overhead suplex outside of the ring, it changed the trajectory of his life, let alone his WWE career, forever.

Though his New Day match versus the Brawling Brutes duo of Holland and Sheamus did get wrestled to completion, with Kofi Kingston ultimately taking the pin in the SmackDown-broadcasted match, the contest's outcome was secondary to its implications; after a solid singles run that saw E secure the Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWE Championship for one reign over 110 days, the third member of New Day was going to be out of action for a very long time.

While Big E attempted to make the most of the situation he found himself in, posting a short video thanking the fans for having his back and even working out in the gym a few weeks after surgery, the optimism surrounding a swift return kept getting squashed, with news that his C1 wasn't ossifying back in July and the potential for another surgery still not fully ruled out.

So naturally, when Big E made his way onto the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin to discuss all things in and out of the ring, fans waited with bated breath to see if there were any updates, good or bad, about his eventual return to the ring. The results, unfortunately, were mixed to poor.

Big E will fully recover but may never be the same in a WWE ring.

When a professional wrestler breaks their neck, it very rarely spells good news. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was out for a very long time and ultimately saw his career come to a premature end because of a broken neck he suffered at the hands of Owen Hart, and Edge was out for nine years, too, because of a neck injury that he was only recently cleared from after nearly a decade away from the ring.

While the prospect of living a normal life after suffering a neck injury is possible, as both Austin and Edge had successful lives outside of the ring, there's a difference between going to the gym, talking on the phone, going to the grocery store, and actually getting in a ring where a pair of 250-pound men are tossing each other around like rag dolls.

Fortunately for Big E, it would appear he will be able to live a normal life outside of the ring without any long-term ramifications from his match with Holland, assuming he takes proper precautions like wearing a bicycle helmet and avoiding any potentially hazardous situations, but in the ring? Well, read what he had to say about his prospects of returning to the ring via the Out of Character podcast as dictated by The Wrestling Observer.

“Essentially, the issue right now is my C1 is not completely ossifying, it’s not completely forming into bone but it appears to be healing fibrously so it’s kind of contained enough. I’m not a medical expert so I’m gonna butcher all these terms but it’s good enough that they're not worried about me in my day-to-day life, I don’t need the brace anymore, they took surgery off the table.”

“I'd be cleared to live a normal life and I am cleared to live a normal life but I’m not cleared to be taking off and hitting suicide spears and to be taking back bumps. The nature of what we do is very physical and involves your neck and your spine and I'd like to keep that as intact as possible.”

“So for me right now, kind of the next step is they want to take a look at it again after a year, get some more scans. So, we are talking about, like, March of next year to see how it’s doing. We might also, along the way, at the six and nine-month mark look at it again. But the upside is right now I have no nerve issues, there’s no tingling, no weakness. I’ve been in the gym since two weeks after breaking my neck.”

“They told me as long as your neck is in the brace, as long as you stay in the brace, you're good for that. I've been working out, I feel great, I'm just really grateful, honestly.”

All things considered, that is good news for Big E, the 36-year-old man who is already a lock to make the WWE Hall of Fame and has interests outside of wrestling. But for fans of Big E the wrestler and New Day the faction, the thought of seeing the trio never share the ring again for a meaningful match again is disappointing, to say the least.