Early Life And Powerlifting Career
Ettore Ewen was born on March 1, 1986, in Tampa, Florida. He showed great athletic potential from a young age and won a state championship in wrestling when he was in middle school. He began playing football when he was in high school and then played as a lineman for the University of Iowa.
After graduating, Ewen began competing in powerlifting. He broke the national record for the deadlift, though his record has since been broken.
Big E In NXT
A friend of Ewen recommended he give professional wrestling a shot once injuries ended his football career. He successfully tried out for FCW, a developmental territory of WWE, in 2011. Ewen began performing under the ring name Big E Langston. The following year, FCW was rebranded into NXT.
Big E became an incredibly imposing powerhouse in NXT. To prove his dominance, he demanded that referees make a five-count instead of the traditional three when he pinned his opponents. On January 9, 2013, Big E defeated Seth Rollins to become the NXT Champion.
Big E continued to impress the WWE when he made his move to the main roster. He teamed up with stars like Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk. On November 18, 2013, Big E defeated Curtis Axel to become the Intercontinental Champion.
The New Day Is Born
In the Summer of 2014, WWE began a new experiment. They paired Big E with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to form a new stable called The New Day. Their gimmick was inspired by gospel choirs and preachers. Though it may be hard to imagine now, the New Day was not particularly popular when the group first formed. The crowd’s rejection of the trio forced them to turn heel when they were originally intended to be babyfaces.
Over time, the WWE universe warmed up to the New Day. As the three men began showing more personality and charisma, they became even more popular to the point of being fan favorites. They found great success as a tag team trio; they currently hold the record for most WWE-branded tag team championship reigns with a total of 12.
Return To Singles Competition, Reunion With New Day
During the 2020 WWE draft, Big E was separated from Kofi and Xavier. Despite the universal disappointment at this decision, Big E shined as a singles competitor and recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Sami Zayn on December 25, 2020.
The following July, Big E won the Money in the Bank ladder match and consequently became the first Black wrestler to hold the MITB briefcase. He used the briefcase to successfully cash in on Bobby Lashley on September 13, 2021 and became the WWE Champion.
Unfortunately, Big E’s reign as WWE Champion wasn’t what fans had hoped for. WWE booked him rather dismissively, making him suffer multiple televised losses despite being champion. He lost the belt to Brock Lesnar On January 1, 2022.
Following the loss of the WWE Championship, Big E returned to tag team competition alongside Kofi and Xavier. On March 11, 2022, Big E sustained a serious neck injury during a match against Sheamus and Ridge Holland of the Brawling Brutes. Big E would reveal soon after that he had suffered a broken neck, but fortunately had no spinal cord damage. He has been out of action ever since.
