Big E has revealed the origins of some of his most well-known offensive moves including the incredible spear off the apron that can sometimes leave fans wincing at E’s hard landing.
Wrestling moves are constantly shared, stolen, adapted, and can be used by many different stars. What was once a surefire finish to a match such as a Sweet Chin Music is now run of the mill in matches involving everyone from The Young Bucks to The Usos.
The New Day’s Big E has discussed where he picked up some of his best-known moves on the New Day: Feel The Power podcast with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston.
Big E first explained who to ‘blame’ for his ‘spear suicida’:
“The apron spear came from Fit Finlay. I always hated when people would hit the post on the spear in the corner. When do people ever hit that? I thought, ‘I’ll be the guy who actually does hit a running shoulder attack in the corner. Fit is like, ‘Why don’t you just do that while your opponent is on the apron?’ I was like, ‘What?’ At the time, I didn’t have much stuff in my offense, so I figured I’d give it a shot. All you people complaining about me almost killing myself, blame Fit Finlay.”
Then Big E touched on another move that he borrowed from someone not yet on the WWE roster:
“The uranage, I just stole from Samoa Joe. Straight up. I felt bad once he got signed and he was using it. I was like, ‘Out of respect, maybe I should stop using it,’ but he never gave me any flack. Joe was always cool about it. Once, I tweeted him ‘Sorry, Uce’ and that was my way of saying, ‘Sorry, but I’m still gonna keep using it.’ It’s a great move. Joe is a stand-up dude, I feel like he would’ve said something.”
Joey Mercury is the one who suggested I use it. Sue him, not me. I’m not saying I never thought Joe would get to WWE, but the thought then was…you could just take moves from guys on the Indies. Right now, if you have a real name on the Indies and you want to get to WWE, you’ll probably get to WWE.”
“In 2009, it was a mark against you to have a name on the Indies or have success elsewhere. He was a guy where I wasn’t worried about him coming to WWE and me having to stop doing the move. It was a different time. There’s this grey area about wanting to take a guy’s moves. You definitely don’t do it if a guy is already in the company if it’s a finisher or signature move. It felt like a free-for-all with guys on the Indies where you just take what you wanted.”
Kofi Kingston also spoke on the podcast about the surprising meaning behind his own signature move, the SOS.