Big E Says It’s A Great Time For Black Men and Women in Wrestling

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Big E spoke about how today is a great time for black men and women in the business because they are getting more opportunities. Here are highlights:

On black men and women in wrestling: “I think right now it’s just a great time for Black men and women in our industry. We’re in a boom period because there is so much talent who are very good and happen to be Black whether it’s Bianca Belair, Sasha Banks or Bobby Lashley, who I won the title from. A couple of years ago, it was Kofi Kingston, my partner of seven years with New Day. They’re all richly deserving from what I’ve seen. When you talk about inclusion or diversity, I think it’s important you’re not just putting people of color in these positions merely because they’re a person of color. When you look at Bianca, Sasha and Bobby, they’re all talented and unique and they just so happen to be Black.”

On what led to his success: “For me, I’m 5′11′’. There are wrestlers who are taller and bigger than me. I try to blend humor and lightheartedness with this intensity. I think any well-rounded character in TV and movies, you want to see more than one note. If I was always serious or always angry, that’d be boring. I’ve tried to find that balance of entertaining people while also knowing when to be serious. That’s enabled me to separate myself from a lot of my peers.”

On how much longer he has left in wrestling: “This is not a job you can do into your 70s. I guess you can but I won’t be doing it in my 70s. I think it’s a matter of seeing how I feel. I want to see in a couple of years how my body feels and where I’m at in my life. The thing is we have a ton of guys who are married with kids. I am not one of them. Being WWE champion requires you to be gone a lot. The entire month of November, I had just three off days. Wrestling is a small part of the job. There are so many other facets be it interviews or appearances. Right now I’m single and I’m hustling.”