Big E (wrestler)


Ettore Ewen is an American professional wrestler, voice actor and former powerlifter and American football player. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Big E, where he performs on the SmackDown brand.
Ewen was a collegiate football player at the University of Iowa and later became a powerlifter and a USA Powerlifting champion. Upon signing with WWE in 2009, Ewen was assigned to its developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling. After FCW was rebranded to NXT, he became the second-ever NXT Champion. Since arriving on the main roster in 2012, he has become a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time Raw Tag Team Champion, and a record six-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion. As a part of The New Day, he holds the record for the longest tag team championship reign in WWE history at 483 days.

Early life

Ettore Ewen was born on March 1, 1986 in Tampa, Florida, the son of Jamaican and Montserratian immigrants Eltore and Margaret Ewen. He attended Wharton High School in Tampa, where he won a number of athletic honors, including a state championship in high school wrestling and being named Hillsborough County's "Ironman of the Year". Upon graduating, Ewen attended the University of Iowa, where he played American football as a defensive lineman for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was redshirted in 2004 and missed the 2005 season due to an injury sustained in pre-season camp, playing a single season as a sophomore in 2006. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. After college, Ewen turned his attention to the sport of powerlifting.

Powerlifting career

Ewen competed in his first USA Powerlifting meet on July 11 at the 2010 United States Open Championships at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida. He became the top heavyweight lifter, breaking all four Florida state raw powerlifting records in the 275-pound class and besting raw national records in the deadlift and total. His lifts included a 611-pound squat, a 490-pound bench press, and a 749-pound deadlift for a 1,850 pound raw total. Ewen also won the 2011 USAPL Raw Nationals in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This time, he competed in the super heavyweight division and broke the raw American and national records in the deadlift and total. All of his national and American raw records have since been broken.

Personal records

The American and National Championship Records in the deadlift are held at 410 kg since 1995 by Mark Henry, who also became a professional wrestler in WWE. Big E has also bench pressed 575 lbs raw touch and go in the gym, but it was not a competition lift.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Developmental territories (2009–2013)

In 2009, Ewen signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and he was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, where he debuted on December 17, 2009 under the ring name Big E Langston. On May 12, 2011, Langston and Calvin Raines defeated Richie Steamboat and Seth Rollins to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship, but they lost the championship to CJ Parker and Donny Marlow on July 21, 2011. During the WrestleMania Axxess event in April 2012, Langston defeated Antonio Cesaro.
When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT, Langston made his NXT debut on August 1, 2012, defeating Adam Mercer. This marked the start of a winning streak for Langston, who from September started repeatedly performing his finisher on his opponents and demanding that referees count to five before awarding him pinfalls. After Langston rejected Vickie Guerrero's managerial services, Guerrero promised a $5,000 bounty to anyone who could put Langston "on the shelf"; but attempts to claim the bounty by Chad Baxter and Camacho were firmly squashed by Langston. The bounty was ultimately declared void by NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes. Langston then began to feud with The Shield, and on the January 9, 2013 episode of NXT, Langston defeated The Shield member Seth Rollins in a No Disqualification match to win the NXT Championship. After successful title defenses against Conor O'Brian, Corey Graves, Brad Maddox, and Damien Sandow, Langston eventually lost the NXT Championship to Bo Dallas on the June 12 episode of NXT.

Alliance with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee (2012–2013)

On the December 17, 2012 episode of Raw, Langston made his main roster debut by attacking John Cena and aligning with AJ Lee, thus establishing himself as a heel. Langston went on to act as an enforcer for AJ's boyfriend, Dolph Ziggler. On April 7, 2013, at WrestleMania 29, Langston and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Langston wrestled his first singles match on Raw the following night, defeating Daniel Bryan. After Ziggler suffered a concussion in May, Langston competed in a best-of-five series against Ziggler's opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship, Alberto Del Rio, which Del Rio won 3–2. On the June 10 episode of Raw, Langston was revealed as the secret admirer of Divas Champion Kaitlyn; this in turn was revealed to be a ploy by AJ Lee, the number one contender to Kaitlyn's title, to humiliate Kaitlyn. Langston and AJ continued to mock Kaitlyn over the following weeks, with AJ ultimately winning the title at Payback.
On the July 15 episode of Raw, Ziggler ended his relationship with AJ, which led to Langston attacking him later in the evening. On the July 29 episode of Raw, Langston was defeated by Ziggler by disqualification after AJ interfered and attacked Ziggler. In a rematch on the following week's Raw, Langston defeated Ziggler following a distraction by AJ. On August 18 at SummerSlam, Langston and AJ were defeated by Ziggler and Kaitlyn in a mixed tag team match, effectively ending their feud.

Intercontinental Champion (2013–2014)

On the October 18 episode of SmackDown, Langston took offense to Paul Heyman, after Heyman downplaying CM Punk's victory over Langston and calling Langston "a rookie", Langston then aided Punk in fending off Curtis Axel and Ryback, turning face in the process. Three days later, on the October 21 episode of Raw, Langston teamed up with Punk to defeat Axel and Ryback, with Langston pinning Axel. He was set to receive an Intercontinental Championship match against Axel at Hell in a Cell, but Axel was pulled from the match shortly before the pay-per-view due to a legitimate hip injury. Langston then challenged for the United States Championship against Dean Ambrose at the event, winning by countout. The following night on Raw, he was granted a rematch for the title, winning the match by disqualification after Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins interfered.
On the November 18 episode of Raw, Langston received his postponed championship match with Curtis Axel, defeating him to win the Intercontinental Championship, his first singles championship on the main roster. At Survivor Series, Langston successfully retained his title against Axel. Langston then successfully retained his championship against Damien Sandow at. On January 26, 2014, at the Royal Rumble, Langston participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Sheamus. At Elimination Chamber on February 23, with his ring name now shortened to Big E, he successfully defended the title against Jack Swagger. At WrestleMania XXX, Big E competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which was won by Cesaro. At Extreme Rules, Big E lost the title to Bad News Barrett, and failed to regain it the following night on Raw, ending his reign at 167 days. Big E later became involved in a feud with Rusev, which led to consecutive bouts at Payback and Money in the Bank, both of which Big E lost. At Battleground, Big E competed in a battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship, which was eventually won by The Miz.

The New Day (2014–present)

During the summer of 2014, Big E was put in a team with Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods usually as manager. In November, WWE began airing vignettes for Big E, Kingston and Woods, with the stable now being billed as The New Day. The New Day made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Curtis Axel, Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil. They started a brief feud with Gold and Stardust, which Big E and Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust at the on December 14. On January 25, 2015, at the Royal Rumble, The New Day lost to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, ending their winning streak. Later that night, Big E participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 31, they failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way match, as well as being eliminated by Big Show in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
On the April 6 episode of Raw, The New Day turned heel, after fans responded negatively to the group. At Extreme Rules, Big E and Kingston defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. At Payback, The New Day defeated Kidd and Cesaro to retain their titles. At Elimination Chamber, The New Day retained the titles in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match, and all three members were allowed to compete in a pre-match stipulation.
They lost the titles at Money in the Bank against The Prime Time Players, but they would regain the titles at SummerSlam. The following night on Raw, they started a feud with The Dudley Boyz, setting up a title match at Night of Champions, where they lost by disqualification. The next month, at Hell in a Cell, they defeated The Dudley Boyz to retain their titles, ending their feud. At, The New Day retained the title against The Usos and The Lucha Dragons in a triple threat tag team ladder match. On January 24, 2016, at the Royal Rumble, they retained the title against The Usos.
in April 2016
At Fastlane on February 21, The New Day turned face by mocking The League of Nations, starting a feud. They retained their titles at Roadblock against The League of Nations. At WrestleMania 32, The New Day were defeated by The League of Nations in a six-man tag team match. The following night on Raw, they successfully retained their title against The League of Nations, ending their feud. After WrestleMania, they retained their title at Extreme Rules against The Vaudevillains, and at Money in the Bank against The Vaudevillains, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a fatal-four-way match.
On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Big E, along with his fellow New Day teammates, were drafted to the Raw brand. Three days later, on July 22, The New Day became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, breaking the record of 331 days previously set by Paul London and Brian Kendrick. After SmackDown established the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships due to the brand split, the titles held by the New Day were renamed the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. On the August 1 episode of Raw, Big E suffered a storyline contusion to the groin area after an attack by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. At SummerSlam, Big E returned from injury by attacking Gallows and Anderson during their match against Kingston and Woods, resulting in Gallows and Anderson winning by disqualification. At Clash of Champions, The New Day retained the titles against Gallows and Anderson. At Hell in a Cell, The New Day lost to the team of Cesaro and Sheamus by disqualification, but retained the titles. On the October 31 episode of Raw, The New Day revealed that they were made captain of Team Raw for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016 which Team Raw won after defeating Team SmackDown. The New Day had two successful title defenses in November on the November 21 and 28 editions of Raw against Cesaro and Sheamus and Gallows and Anderson, respectively. On the December 12 episode of Raw, The New Day retained the titles two triple threat tag team matches, first involving Gallows and Anderson and Cesaro and Sheamus and the second involving Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens and the team of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. At, The New Day lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to Cesaro and Sheamus, ending their record breaking championship reign at 483 days. All members were in the Royal Rumble match but were eliminated by Sheamus and Cesaro. On February 20, 2017, they were announced as the hosts of WrestleMania 33. On April 11, 2017, Big E and The New Day were moved to the SmackDown brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. The New Day debuted on "Talking Smack", the post-show for SmackDown Live on May 23, however, they did not wrestle or make an appearance on SmackDown Live itself.
At Battleground, Kingston and Woods, representing The New Day, defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships for the first time. Though Big E did not wrestle himself, due to The New Day defending the titles under the Freebird Rule, Big E is also recognized as a champion. The New Day lost the tag titles back to The Usos at SummerSlam. The Usos held the titles for about a month, before The New Day won them back on SmackDown Live that September. At Hell in a Cell, Big E and Woods took on The Usos in the namesake match, but lost the championships. On the October 23 edition of Raw, The New Day along with other talent of SmackDown ambushed the Raw wrestlers. They again appeared on the November 6 episode of Raw in the crowd, which led to distraction of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and costing them the tag titles. On the November 14 edition of SmackDown, The Shield led an attack with Raw Superstars and invaded SmackDown similar to the one led by SmackDown and attacked everyone including New Day. At Survivor Series, The New Day lost to The Shield. The New Day failed to regain the titles from The Usos at Clash of Champions in a fatal-4-way tag team match also involving the team of Rusev and Aiden English, and Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin. Big E entered the 2018 Royal Rumble match as the ninth entrant, but failed to win the match after being eliminated by Jinder Mahal.
in April 2018
At Fastlane, The New Day faced The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, but went to a no contest after inference from The Bludgeon Brothers. Two weeks later, it was confirmed that at WrestleMania 34, The New Day would face the Usos and the Bludgeon Brothers in a triple threat tag team match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships. The New Day failed to capture the titles at the event, which were won by The Bludgeon Brothers. On the April 11 episode of SmackDown, The New Day were defeated by The Usos in a match to determine which team would challenge The Bludgeon Brothers at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. The New Day were then defeated by SAnitY in a six-man tables match at the Extreme Rules pre-show. The New Day competed in a tag team title tournament, defeating SAnitY in the first round, while Cesaro and Sheamus defeated the Usos. The New Day then defeated Cesaro and Sheamus the following week on SmackDown to earn the right to face The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam, where they won the match by disqualification, meaning the Bludgeon Brothers retained their titles. Two days later on SmackDown, however, The New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers in a No Disqualification match to capture the titles for a third time. Big E and WOods then represented the New Day when they unsuccessfully defended their tag titles against The Bar on SmackDown 1000.
Big E entered the 2019 Royal Rumble but was eliminated by Samoa Joe. In the lead-up to WrestleMania 35, Big E's New Day teammate Kofi Kingston was attempting to earn a shot at the WWE Championship and after many attempts, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon granted him the title shot after Big E and Xavier Woods defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, The Bar, The Usos, and Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan in a tag-team gauntlet match. Shortly after WrestleMania, Big E suffered a legitimate knee injury which sidelined him for weeks. He later returned and eventually earned another SmackDown tag team title opportunity at Extreme Rules. At the event, Big E and Xavier Woods defeated Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan and Heavy Machinery to win the titles. They lost the titles to The Revival at Clash of Champions, but regained it on the November 8 episode of SmackDown, becoming record five-time champions as a team, and a record fifth reign for Big E individually. At, Big E and Kingston successfully defended the titles against The Revival in a ladder match. On January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble, Big E participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Brock Lesnar.
At Super ShowDown, Big E and Kingston lost the championships against John Morrison and The Miz and failed to regain the titles at Elimination Chamber. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, Big E, who represented The New Day, won the titles back from Miz, who represented himself and Morrison, in a triple threat match, also involving Jey Uso, who represented The Usos, and this makes The New Day six-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions. At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, The New Day would lose the championships to Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Tables match after Cesaro and Nakamura put Kingston through two tables. On the July 24 episode of SmackDown, Kingston revealed that he would be out of action for 6 weeks and gave Big E the blessing to go on a solo run.

Filmography

Television

Video games

Championships and accomplishments