Big E has confirmed that doctors have told him that he will make a complete recovery from the broken neck which has kept him out of action since March.
After recent updates left fans unclear as to what the future had in store for Big E, the former WWE Champion has now revealed that he is expected to make a full recovery from a broken neck.
In May, the multi-time WWE Tag Team Champion revealed that his neck wasn’t “healing optimally” but shared a more positive update in June in a post where he threw his neck brace in the trash. On July 4th the star said that surgery was still off the table but C1 vertebrae wasn’t yet forming bone.
Speaking to ESPN, the New Day star said that he was “grateful” for the positive news. Upon sustaining the injury, doctors told him that it could have easily led to “a stroke, paralysis or death.”
“It’s very sobering to hear that,” the 36-year-old said. “… I think to be great at something like [pro wrestling], or at least to be competent, you can’t spend all your time worrying about possibly fatal injuries or breaking your neck. You have to go out there and be free and in the moment. I think a lot of us as performers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that stuff. I never thought I would be.”
With regard to Big E’s recovery, the report from ESPN states:
“He told ESPN on Wednesday that his neck will be evaluated at the six- and nine-month marks but that doctors do not believe they will have a clear answer on how long he will be out of the ring until he gets checked one year after the injury, in March 2023.”
Big E also reiterated that he holds no ill-will towards Ridge Holland for his role in the accident which led to the injury.
“I have no issue whatsoever with Ridge,” Big E said. “He’s reached out and said some very kind things… What we do is dangerous, and there are inherent dangers. And to that degree, we all kind of know what we sign up for, and it was unfortunate that it went down that way. But I’m not dead. I’m alive. I’m doing well.”
On the March 11th edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Big E took an Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplex from Ridge Holland at ringside. However, instead of the New Day star landing flat on his back, he landed on his head and neck. While Big E was taken to the backstage area on a stretcher, it was later confirmed that he had broken his neck.
The star later explained that his C1 and C6 vertebrae were fractured, but he thankfully hadn’t sustained any damage to his spinal cord.