One of the most talked about happenings in the recent WWE Draft was the split of long-established trio New Day, which saw Kofi Kingson and Xavier Woods move to Raw and Big E remain on SmackDown as a solo act.
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason behind the split was to give Big E a big singles push and tweak his act.
As a solo act, Big E is expected to drop the comedy aspects of his character – which WWE felt would be impossible to do whilst he was still associated with New Day – and become a more serious performer.
Although it may be difficult to imagine Big E as any other than a hip-gyrating, Booty-O throwing babyface who just likes to have fun, the charismatic star is more than capable of playing a more serious role, as he did prior to the formation of New Day.
Long-time fans will no doubt remember when Big E Langston ruled NXT as the brand’s second NXT Champion back in 2012, during which time he employed the old King Kong Bundy gimmick of demanding a five count for his victories, because he was so dominant.
After he was called up to the main roster, Big E was also more than adequate in the role of Dolph Ziggler’s hired muscle, which was a different role than he had in NXT but equally as effective.
As E showed on this past week’s episode of SmackDown in his wild street fight with Sheamus, he is more than capable as a serious big match performer and with his natural charisma, he has long been viewed as the potential breakout act of New Day – despite Kofi’s success in 2019.
Join us tonight for live coverage of SmackDown, where we may get the first glimpses of Big E in his new, more focused and serious guise.