In 2015, WWE committed to making Roman Reigns the face of the company, having him win the Royal Rumble and headline his first of four straight WrestleManias.
Around the same time WWE was committing to Reigns, Big E was committing to New Day. According to rumors, WWE was choosing between Big E and Reigns to lead the company forward.
When asked by Matty Paddock of talkSPORT about Roman being chosen over him, Big E responded, "There was a point – and I don’t know if this was a thing – but there was a rumour that the choice was between me and Roman and they were kind of deciding [who to push]. To me, Roman made so much sense – look at him! You can say what you want about him, but look at the guy. I’ve been in the ring with him and he’s incredible, he gets so much love. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone say ‘I didn’t enjoy working with him’ or ‘I didn’t think he was good in the ring.’ If you’ve been in the ring with [you’d know] he deserves the spot he got! Now I feel so much more comfortable as a performer, as a promo and in my character – and unabashedly being myself. I feel capable of being whatever this run is going to be.”
Reigns went on to become a multi-time WWE/Universal Champion while Big E became a multi-time Tag Team Champion. Reigns is currently off television, choosing to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Big E is now in the middle of a singles push as Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are sidelined with injuries.
