Big E has remained absent from WWE since the March 11th Friday Night SmackDown, suffering a broken neck from a botched belly-to-belly suplex executed by Ridge Holland. The wrestling community has rallied around Big E ever since, sending their love to the New Day man.
Among them is two-time WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, who challenged E for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel in October 2021. Though ‘The Scottish Warrior’ ultimately came up short, he remembers the match fondly, quote-tweeting a fan who posted photos from the hard-hitting affair:
“BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT TM. A year since myself and @WWEBigE tore it up in front [of] an electric crowd for the WWE Title. What a night. Miss you brother”
BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT ™️
A year since myself and @WWEBigE tore it up in front an electric crowd for the WWE Title. What a night. Miss you brother 👊🏼 https://t.co/jIuRWVXL7n
— Drew McIntyre (@DMcIntyreWWE) October 21, 2022
How Long Will Big E Be Out Of Action?
How long, exactly, Big E will be out of action has been a primary question since the fateful night of his possible career-ending injury. Although it’s not uncommon for a wrestler to return from such a devastating injury – ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Hardcore Holly, et al – the injury very nearly caused paralysis or fatality for Big E.
Discussing his injury on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, the one-time WWE Champion discussed how he won’t the future of his in-ring career until, at the earliest, March 2023:
“For right now, I’m cleared to live a normal life and I do live a normal life. But, I’m not cleared to be taking off and hitting suicide Spears and be taking back bumps. The nature of what we do is very physical, it 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’re talking about March 2023 to see what’s doing. We might also along the way, at the 6 and 9-month mark, look it again. But, the upside is that right now, I have no nerve issues, there’s no tingling, no weakness.”
Big E was last seen on WWE’s The Bump on October 5th, joined by former WWE Superstar Tyler Breeze.
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Out of Character and link back to this article with a H/T to Inside The Ropes.