WWE's Big E Says He Was Supposed To Win Back World Title Before In-Ring Retirement

Big E has revealed the original plans WWE had for him when he held the world title.

The former New Day star won his first and only world title in September 2021 and lost it just a few months later to Brock Lesnar. He revealed during an interview on "Notsam Wrestling" that he was originally supposed to lose the title to Seth Rollins before winning it back at WrestleMania.

"Actually, the plan we were moving toward initially was for me and Seth to have a singles match at Day 1. I was going to drop the title anyway. So I was supposed to drop the title to Seth. We'd come back at Mania, we'd do it again, and I'd regain the title," he said.

But as they approached the Day 1 PLE in 2022, things began to change, with more stars added to the mix for the WWE Championship. Big E recalled how Vince McMahon changed plans from it being a singles match between him and Rollins to a multi-man match. Meanwhile, the original plan for him and Rollins to have a rematch at WrestleMania, where Big E would regain the title, didn't happen as he had suffered his career-ending injury.

"Seth was named the number one contender. I can't remember exactly when that was, but we had a lot of lead time before Day 1 on January 1. So creative, the office, was like, 'Okay, well, we need a filler program.' So then KO [Kevin Owens] got added. Then it became a three-way thing for a little bit. Then Bobby [Lashley] needed something to do. Vince loves Bobby. So Bobby's inserted. So it was supposed to be a four-way at Day 1. Then Roman got sick," he said. "And by the time we got to WrestleMania, my neck was broken. My career was over."

The match at Day 1 was won by Brock Lesnar, who then lost the title to Bobby Lashley later in the month, before Lesnar won it again at Elimination Chamber the following month. At WrestleMania 38 later in the year, Lesnar lost the title to Roman Reigns.