Big E‘s reign as the WWE Champion came to an abrupt end at WWE Day 1 when Brock Lesnar won the title and kicked off 2022 with the gold around his waist.
Now, “The Powerhouse of Positivity” has had several days to reflect on this setback, and he’s determined to regain his spot as the champion.
In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Big E discussed his loss at WWE Day 1 and expressed some dissatisfaction with his reign. But moving forward, he’s using this frustration to fuel him on his renewed quest for the title.
“I wanted it to be a five-course meal, and it was more of an appetizer,” said Big E. “I’m overly critical of my work to begin with, so I wouldn’t say I was happy with it. My hope was to knock it out of the park, and I fell a bit short. So it’s motivating to start that climb back.”
Just two days after his reign ended, Big E had the chance to earn a shot at Lesnar, but that opportunity went to Bobby Lashley instead, as “The All Mighty” won a Fatal Four-Way bout to clinch his spot in a match with “The Beast Incarnate” at WWE Royal Rumble. Following this defeat, Big E made it clear that he’s not content with being “just a guy” on the roster again. But for now, he’s seemingly the odd man out in the title picture.
As a result, many fans continue to compare the former champion to his stablemate, Kofi Kingston; Lesnar rapidly concluded the latter’s reign in less than ten seconds when they clashed in a title match. With this similarity in mind, Big E noted that he doesn’t want to think of this connection as a way to learn from Kingston’s mistakes. That being said, he’s letting himself feel the disappointment of the loss, rather than pretending everything is “golden.” He then emphasized his mission to get it back.
“I don’t want to position it as learning from Kofi’s missteps,” said Big E. “I know what his intentions were, and mine would have been the same. He didn’t do anything wrong. But I have learned that losing this title hurts.
“I love being myself and being entertaining, but you can’t go from dropping a world championship to saying everything is golden. This title meant a lot to me, and it meant to a lot of people, too. My focus is clawing back to that spot.”
When discussing the nature of his loss at WWE Day 1, “The Powerhouse of Positivity” stated that the viral image of his downtrodden face after the match was a reflection of his true sadness because the lows that come on the flip side of success as a WWE star “suck.”
