Former WWE Champion Big E opens up on neck injury, recovery: ‘I’ve had so many people who have been incredibly supportive’

In an interview with FanSided, former WWE champion Big E discussed his recovery from a neck injury he suffered last year and the support he received.

Big E had a year to remember in 2021. He started off the year as WWE’s Intercontinental champion, won the Money in the Bank ladder match that July, and cashed in that contract to win the WWE championship that September. But in March, 2022, Big E was sidelined due to an injury.

During a tag team match with Kofi Kingston against Sheamus and Ridge Holland on Friday Night SmackDown, Big E landed awkwardly on his head at ringside on a belly-to-belly suplex attempt. He was stretchered out, and he revealed later that he had suffered fractured C1 and C6 vertebrae in his neck. He had been sidelined ever since more than a year later.

I spoke with Big E, courtesy of SNICKERS, ahead of WrestleMania 39 in Inglewood, Calif., and he discussed the recovery process for his neck injury.

If using any of these quotes, please credit with “h/t FanSided” and link back to this article.

Big E on recovery process for neck injury, positive messages he’s received from wrestling community

"“So for me, I ended up I was in a cervical collar for three months initially, trying to remember initially, I think it was six weeks was the plan. And then we got some more scans and unfortunately wasn’t healing quite the way we wanted at six weeks. So I ended up in a cervical collar for a total of 12 weeks,” said Big E. “And then after that, it was really just working on range of motion, working on strength. So I’ve been in rehab for about nine months working on those things. And even when I’m not actually at home at a rehab clinic, I’m able to do those exercises while I’m on the road.“But even things to like, I had a bone stimulator that’s supposed to help uses ultrasound waves to accelerate healing. I had a friend of mine…he has this red light therapy. So I had some people reach out and we tried some different modalities to accelerate healing as well. Natty bless her heart, Natalya [Neidhart] sent me a bunch of calcium too, and has been so encouraging because she went through that with her husband TJ, Tyson Kidd, and his neck injury which was, you know, worse and scarier than mine. And to see him, and that’s the thing, too, is, you know, there’s so many cases of wrestlers with neck injuries, but to see them flourish, you know, Tyson is in incredible shape now, and to see how mobile he is, how active he is.“So that’s the cool thing, too, is you know, none of us want to have these, you know, broken neck or neck issues. But the great thing is, you know, you have people you can lean on people who’ve been through it. So it’s really I’ve had so many people who have been incredibly supportive.”"

At the time of the injury, there were countless positive messages sent Big E’s way, from fans to his colleagues at WWE. But, it wasn’t limited to those in the WWE picture, as he also received messages from those who work in other professional wrestling/sports entertainment companies.

The former WWE champion opened up about what it was like receiving such love from the wrestling community.

"“Honestly, it was it was very moving. And it was, like, incredibly heartwarming and made me feel like, like I did something right in my career to have that, that outpouring of love,” said Big E. “And for me, you know, being a good human being is something that’s really important. That’s something that I strive for that I, I really believe in, like working on myself and trying my best to be a better human, a better friend, a better co worker, so that it really warmed my heart. And you know, I know a lot of times people can get caught up in, and what can sometimes not be the most pleasant community online when it comes to to our industry. And that’s something that is real, but also the amount of love when our community decides to come together, it really is moving. And I’ve seen it with other people as well and other situations, other tragic situations where where people really banded together. And for me, I saw so much love. And, and that really meant a lot to me.“I think oftentimes with injuries, people focus on the physical. And that is a huge part is, you know, how long does the healing process take? How was rehab, but I think oftentimes, as someone who has been injured, unfortunately, many times throughout my life, I think the mental part is one that it really, really can be the hardest for so many. And I didn’t struggle with the mental because I really had an incredible community. I had people who showed me love on a regular basis. And not just like, you know, the night that I broke my neck or the next day, but I had so many people who followed up, so many even fans, strangers who continue to ask me how I’m doing or send prayers, or just on a regular basis, the fact that I never felt like people forgot about me, I always felt like people always had me, you know, on their mind throughout this last year or so. And that means so much to me. And I really am so, so thankful. And I couldn’t reach out to everyone, I couldn’t reply to everyone, I couldn’t get back to everyone. But truly, thank you so much to everyone who reached out and sent positive thoughts or a text, or DM or whatever it was, it meant a lot to me. And it really just gave me so much more increased faith in the wrestling community, in the fandom because people can focus on the negative, but there really truly is so much good.”"

Since it has been over a year since his injury, fans were probably thinking when would he get cleared. Big E revealed that he is going to receive some more scans once he returns home from WrestleMania.

"“Right now the plan is once I get back from WrestleMania, a few days after I get home, so early April. Next week, I’ll get home and then I’ll get some more scans. We’ll have the doctors review them. And we’ll make a decision from there,” said Big E. “So right now, yeah, that’s that’s kind of the focus is just that next step is getting those scans taking a look. And then I saw seeing where we want to go from there.”"

You can watch the full interview with Big E here:

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