Big E Langston Ettore Ewen ( born March 1 , 1986 ) is an American professional wrestler , signed to WWE where he wrestles under the ring name Big E Langston . He is a former NXT Champion in WWE ' s developmental territory , NXT Wrestling . He is also a national powerlifting champion who has set multiple national and state records in the raw division . Early life . Ewen was born in Tampa , Florida to Afro - Caribbean immigrants Eltore and Margaret Ewen . He attended Wharton High School , where he won a number of athletic honors , including being named Hillsborough County ' s " Ironman of the Year " . Upon graduating from Wharton , Ewen attended the University of Iowa , where he played football as a defensive lineman for the Iowa Hawkeyes . Ewen 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 . Ewen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree . As a Florida high school wrestling state champion and a Division I college football letter winner , Ewen competed in a number of different athletic disciplines at an elite level before turning his attention to the sport of powerlifting . Powerlifting career . Ewen competed in his first U . S . A . Powerlifting ( USAPL ) meet on July 11 at the fifth annual United States Open Championships 2010 at Nova Southeastern University in Davie , Florida . He became not only the top heavyweight lifter but also broke all four Florida state raw powerlifting records in the 275 - pound class and bested 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 USAPL Raw Nationals 2011 in Scranton , Pennsylvania . This time he competed in the super heavyweight division ( + 275 ) and broke the raw American and national records in the deadlift ( 799 lbs ) and total ( 2 , 039 lbs ) in this weight class as well . Although all of his national and American raw records were broken in 2011 and 2012 by Michael Tuchscherer , Brad Gillingham and Randall Harris , Ewen still holds the USAPL Florida State Raw Records in deadlift and total in the SHW division as well as all four raw powerlifting records in the 275 - pound class . Personal records . The American and National Championship Records in the deadlift are held at 410 kg ( 903 . 9 lbs ) since 1995 by Mark Henry , who also became a professional wrestler in WWE . Langston has also bench pressed 575 lbs ( 260 kg ) raw touch and go in the gym , but it was not a competition lift . Professional wrestling career . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2009 – present ) . Developmental territories ( 2009 – 2013 ) . In 2009 , Ewen signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . He was assigned to its developmental territory , Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) , 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 Florida Tag Team Championship . They lost the titles to C . J . Parker and Donny Marlow on July 21 , 2011 . During the WrestleMania XXVIII Axxess event in April 2012 , Langston defeated Antonio Cesaro . When WWE rebranded its developmental territory , FCW , into NXT Wrestling , 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 ( rather than the usual three ) 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 . On the December 6 tapings of " NXT " ( which aired January 9 , 2013 ) , Langston defeated NXT Champion and The Shield member Seth Rollins in a no disqualification match to win the title . He made successful title defenses against opponents including Conor O ' Brian , Brad Maddox and Damien Sandow . before losing the NXT Championship to Bo Dallas on May 23 , 2013 ( airing on June 12 ) . Main roster ; alliance with AJ Lee ( 2012 – present ) . Langston made his WWE main roster debut on the December 17 , 2012 episode of " Raw " , attacking John Cena thus establishing himself on the main roster as a heel , and aligning himself with AJ Lee . Langston went on to act as an enforcer for AJ ' s boyfriend , Dolph Ziggler , interfering in his matches . On April 7 , 2013 , at WrestleMania 29 , Langston and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Team Hell No ( Daniel Bryan and Kane ) for the WWE Tag Team Championship . Langston wrestled his first match on " Raw " the following night , defeating Bryan . After Ziggler suffered a concussion in May , Langston wrestled a series of five matches against Ziggler ' s World Heavyweight Championship contender Alberto Del Rio , which Del Rio won 3 - 2 . On the June 10 episode of " Raw " , Langston was revealed as the secret admirer of WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn ; this in turn was revealed to be a ploy to humiliate Kaitlyn by AJ , the number one contender to Kaitlyn ' s title . Langston and AJ continued to mock Kaitlyn over the following weeks , with AJ ultimately retaining her Divas Championship in a bout with Kaitlyn at Money in the Bank on July 14 . Ziggler ended his relationship with AJ the following night on " Raw " , leading to Langston attack him later in the evening . On the July 29 episode of " Raw " , Langston was defeated by Ziggler via disqualification after AJ interfered and attacked Ziggler . In a rematch on the following week ' s " Raw " , Langston defeated Ziggler following a distraction by AJ and Kaitlyn . On August 18 at SummerSlam , Langston and AJ were defeated by Ziggler and Kaitlyn in a mixed tag team match .