Big E Opens Up About His Decision To Announce His Retirement From In-Ring Action

Big E is officially done in the ring.

It is coming up on four years since Big E last wrestled. While in action on Friday Night SmackDown, he took a belly-to-belly suplex on the outside of the ring and landed on his neck.

In the time since, E has provided numerous updates and shared that if he had landed a certain way, there was a chance he might have passed away. In February 2026, E took to social media to officially announce his retirement from in-ring competition.

He spoke to Jon Alba of The Takedown on Sports Illustrated about that decision and said the following:

“For me, especially when I first broke my neck, I really didn’t think a lot of it. I wasn’t in pain, I wasn’t concussed at all, I didn’t have any real nerve issues. I was like, ‘Okay, we’ll heal up,’ and they told me initially, I think it was eight weeks being in a neck brace, and you should be good to go.

My C1 was broken in two places, and oftentimes, when that happens, the C1 will heal like cartilage. So in those gaps, it’ll form cartilage instead of ossifying, instead of forming new bone. So after talking to (Dr. Juan Uribe) and a few other doctors, the doctor almost damn near begged me like, ‘Hey, please, even if you get your all go, you’re clear, you’re allowed to get back in the ring, please really reconsider it,’ and when I told him, ‘I think I’m definitely leaning towards being done,’ he almost quite literally breathed a sigh of relief. So for someone who’s been doing this for so long, who knows a lot more about spines and necks than I do, I definitely took heed.

You see so many of the veterans, the legends, around WrestleMania, oftentimes that’s when you see a lot of the guys you don’t see year-round, and man, it’s sobering. So many of them, who aren’t even that old, are struggling with pain. Clearly not very ambulatory. They’re using walkers to get around, and man, I told myself, as much as I love my career, as much as I love being an athlete, I am really gambling with my health.”

Big E is a co-host of the WWE Premium Live Event Kickoff and post-shows. He makes appearances on WWE’s Raw Recap podcast in addition to having his own outside projects.