Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Big E is WWE Champion: Finally Where He Was Always Supposed To Be

Big E WWE Champion

On Monday Night Raw, Big E became the WWE Champion for the first time in his career. The new champion delivered on his promise earlier in the day, cashing in Money in the Bank on now-former champion Bobby Lashley following Lashley’s match with Randy Orton. It was a moment essentially announced by Big E in what was a move by WWE to bring back viewers for Raw with multiple factors playing into it. Despite the not-so-secret cash-in by Big E, it still proved to be one of the more special moments in WWE history. That ultimate feeling, even if people had an idea it would happen, makes this the feel-good story for Big E that fans have been wanting for years now.

It has been almost nine years since the new WWE Champion won the NXT Championship, defeating Seth Rollins to become the second man to ever hold it. That win and popularity that the champion created for himself through that win hot shot him to the main roster with many convinced that he was a future world champion who could achieve that goal within a couple of years. Of course, as the story goes, that was not the case and it wasn’t until joining The New Day that Big E would eventually reach that potential. So as fans sit here and celebrate his moment finally on top of the world, it reminds everyone that this was always supposed to happen. While the journey at hand might not necessarily be how fans had hoped, Big E makes it known that this is exactly how it had to go.

Earned, delivered, and being 100 percent himself from the start of his career to this moment.

Big E: One of the Most Earned World Championship Wins in History

Big E WWE Champion with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods
Credit: @AustinCreedWins

There are few wrestlers in history who share their journey, share their struggles, and describe their fight while in the promotion that they are experiencing all of that day by day. It’s rarer that their stories of truth don’t hold them back but instead push them forward. Big E has always been that man as his realness is what has always made him one of the most likable and loveable wrestlers in the world. It’s never been easy for the new WWE Champion, who said back in July on the Out of Character podcast that his inability to get a world title match since joining the main roster nine years ago was something that he wanted to earn.

“I want to work for that,” Big E said to Ryan Satin. “I’m here to work for it and to be rubbing elbows with the very best and competing for world championships. The fact that I’ve been here nearly nine years on the main roster and have yet to have a world, not a single world title match, that’s a shame. That’s a crying shame.”

This is recent, but it dates back to Kofi Kingston’s rise to the WWE Championship as well. The grind to be the best has been something he has always imagined and it wasn’t until Kingston managed to break through the glass ceiling that his dreams could become more of a reality. It’s no secret that African American’s winning world titles in WWE were rare and far between. Before Kingston won the WWE Championship, only The Rock could say he held the top title in WWE in terms of African American’s holding the gold. Kingston’s win broke open something that at times felt impossible and the words of Big E only add emphasis to what he has felt through his run, The New Day’s run, and WWE history as it all led to Kingston’s title win at WrestleMania 35.

“We have done a lot of cool things here,” Big E said in a video he tweeted out regarding Kingston’s denial of a fair shot at the WWE Championship. “We’ve been able to do a lot of cool things here. We’ve been able to do a lot of things that we never could have imagined we could do but clearly we are never meant to be more than this. And for people like us — that is not enough. And it will never be enough.”

While what Big E was saying fit the story that was being told about his best friend Kingston, it also fits a truth that he likely felt in his own journey to get to the mountain top. Those words weren’t scripted. Those were real and it continuously shines the light on why Big E’s moment Monday night was so special to so many people. Big E has been unapologetic in his journey to show to himself he is worthy. That he has earned the spot. That this WWE Championship win was because of his hard work and nothing more. It got to the point where it was special for everyone. If you don’t believe the fans, then believe his peers who rained down the compliments whether they have feuded with him, are best friends with him, or never have done anything professionally with him.

The praise came from everywhere and rightfully so.

Big E did the work. He stayed at it. The world agrees that this moment should have come years ago. Big E has said that he wasn’t ready but truth be told, he’s been ready for more than enough time now. These moments, these justifiable years all paid off for Big E — who has reached the point in his career that he has long deserved. There are times when wrestlers win world titles and their moments are special in every imaginable way as the talent put in the work and deserved it. Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston are two of the most memorable wins that belong in the category. They can move over as they are joined by Big E in that conversation.

To fully summarize and further appreciate the road for Big E, you have to go to the moment that WWE made it known that they finally believed in him too. With Xavier Woods out and Kofi Kingston now injured, it was time for him to chase his dreams at the blessing of his two best friends. A man that never showed a selfish bone in his body now had the chance to chase his dreams and goals with his best friends fully supporting him — which was a sign that WWE did as well.

“It’s your time,” Kingston said to Big E. “Look, me and (Xavier) Woods talk about this all the time. For the past six years, you have been completely selfless. You’ve been putting the group ahead of yourself. Week in, week out. Even when I was the WWE Champion man, it was always love, all the time. No jealousy. No animosity. I always appreciated that. And honestly, I could have never done it without you but here and now — it’s about you man. It’s about you showing the world what Big E can do.”

People wondered if Big E entering singles competition meant it was time he became serious. If it was time he changed his attitude in an effort to better fit the mold as world champion. Unapologetically, Big E refused to ever do that. Rather he further embraced who he was, making himself a role model and a guide to people everywhere.

There wasn’t a blueprint to all this. There wasn’t a guarantee of all this. Through brotherhood, hard work, and an attitude of never giving up on your dreams, Big E became the WWE Champion. He always belonged in this spot from the moment he stepped into WWE and put in the world to finally achieve it. On this day and every day moving forward, the wrestling world can celebrate that Big E did it. Big E could call himself the WWE Champion.

More from LWOS Pro Wrestling

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.

Scott Edwards

Scott Edwards

Scott here. Currently an editor for LWOS Pro Wrestling. Lead for WWE content while contributing for AEW, NJPW, Stardom, and more. Also a writer for Inside The Ropes, Voices of Wrestling, and Daily DDT. Host of the Wrestling With Edwards podcast.

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