Big E Reveals What Big Show Told Kofi Kingston During Early Days of The New Day

Former WWE Champion Big E recently looked back on his journey with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods as part of The New Day.

The New Day will go down as one of the greatest factions in the history of pro wrestling, but it wasn’t all rosy for Big E, Kingston, and Woods from the outset. During an appearance on K&C Masterpiece, Big E recalled how The Big Show once pulled Kingston aside and told him that he was wasting time with his New Day stablemates.

Big E further added that there were other detractors, too, but he only took Big Show’s name because the latter acknowledged his mistakes afterwards. The now-retired wrestler also revealed that he, Kingston, and Woods always wanted to do things their way and were prepared to fail in doing so. He then went on to recount the incredible success that The New Day garnered, adding that he cherished every moment in real time and does not have any regrets in hindsight.

Here’s what Big E said:

“It was such a roller coaster ride. You know, getting the idea off the ground took us so long, and it was so difficult, and there were so many no’s, so many people backstage who laughed at us, and we tell this story often, Big Show pulling Kofi aside in front of us, in front of me and Woods, and said, ‘What are you doing with these guys? You’re wasting your time.’ He wasn’t joking, and I mentioned Big Show. There are other people I won’t name. I mentioned Big Show because Big Show later came to us and apologized and said, ‘I was completely wrong.’

“But we had some real difficulties getting the thing off the ground. But it was so rewarding for us because we just came together through it all, and we said, ‘Look, we’re going to do things our way, and if we fail doing things in our own way, I’m OK with that.’ But doing things someone else’s way and failing, we just weren’t OK with that. So we wanted to sink or swim. based on our own merits, and then when this thing finally took off, man, it’s so cool to be able to look back at KofiMania, to look back at the Hell in a Cell match. I took a Rock Bottom. We were the number one merch movers at Dallas during that year in 2016.

“But man, we had such a blast. And looking back now, my time in the ring is over doing stuff on the commentary side. But I can look back now, and I have no regrets because there are so many times with Kofi and Woods, we spent crying, laughing. We really enjoyed it, and I think too often in our business, so many guys get jaded. They worry about their push. They don’t really enjoy the experience, and I can look back and think, ‘Man, I knew I was in the good old days when I was in the good old days.’ I don’t go back and regret it. But I knew then, ‘Hey, soak it all up. Be present because these are memories.’ Man, I have had such an incredible career. I talk about wrestling Randy Orton in South Africa. I’ve wrestled in Japan more times than I can count. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve had so many incredible experiences, and being able to entertain people truly across the globe has been one of life’s greatest joys.”

Check out the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbIpMo6fBIs

Big E suffered a career-ending injury during a match in March 2022. Two and a half years later, in December 2024, the former WWE Champion was kicked out of the faction by Kingston and Woods during The New Day’s 10th anniversary special segment on RAW.

Please credit K&C Masterpiece and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this copy.