Big e

**Ettore Ewen**[1] (born March 1, 1986)[1] also known by his former ring name **Big E Langston** and currently performing as **Big E**, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE. He is a one time WWE Intercontinental Champion, and was also a former NXT Champion while at WWE's developmental territory, NXT. He is also a national powerlifting champion who has set multiple national and state records in the raw division.

## Background

Ewen was born in Tampa, Florida to Afro-Caribbean immigrants Eltore and Margaret Ewen. Ewen attended Wharton High School, where he won a number of athletic honors, including being named Hillsborough County's "Ironman of the Year".[2] Upon graduating from Wharton, Ewen attended the University of Iowa, where he continued competing 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.[2] Ewen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[1] As a Florida high school wrestling state champion and a Division I

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college football letter winner, Ewen competed in a number of different

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athletic disciplines at an elite level before turning his attention to
the sport of powerlifting. His debut was in 2009.

## 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[8] 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.

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This time he competed in the super heavyweight division (+275) and

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broke the raw American and national records in the deadlift (799 lbs)
and total (2,039 lbs) in this weight class as well.[7][8] Although all of his national and American raw records were broken in 2011 and 2012 by Michael Tuchscherer, Brad Gillingham and Randall Harris,[9][10]
 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.[8]

### Personal records

*Set in official competition*
* Squat – 711 lbs (322.5 kg)[7] *raw without knee wraps*
* Bench press – 529 lbs (240 kg)[7] *raw*
* Deadlift – 799 lbs (362.5 kg)[8] *raw*
* Powerlifting total – 2,039 lbs[8] (711-529-799) / 925 kg[7] (322.5-240-362.5) *raw without knee wraps*

The American[11] and National Championship Records[12] in the deadlift are held at 410 kg (903.9 lbs) since 1995 by Mark Henry,

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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

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competition lift.[13]

## Professional wrestling career

### World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

#### Developmental territories (2009–2012)

Big E at WrestleMania Axxess in April 2012.

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.[1][14] On May 12, 2011, Langston and Calvin Raines defeated Richie Steamboat and Seth Rollins to win the Florida Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to C.J. Parker and Donny Marlow on July 21, 2011.[15] During the WrestleMania XXVIII Axxess event in April 2012, Langston defeated Antonio Cesaro.[14]

When WWE rebranded its developmental territory, FCW, into NXT,[16] Langston made his *NXT* debut on August 1, 2012, defeating Adam Mercer.[17] 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.[18][19] After Langston rejected Vickie Guerrero's managerial services,[20] 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.[21][22] The bounty was ultimately declared void by NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes.[23] Langston then began to feud with The Shield, and on the December 6 tapings of *NXT*[24] (which aired January 9, 2013), Langston defeated NXT Champion and Shield member Seth Rollins in a no disqualification match to win the title.[25]

After Langston successfully defended his NXT Championship against Conor O'Brian, Corey Graves, Brad Maddox and Damien Sandow,[26][27][28] he eventually lost the NXT Championship to Bo Dallas on May 23, 2013 (aired on June 12).[29]

#### Alliance with AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler (2012–2013)

Big E on *Raw* in April 2013.

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.[30] Langston went on to act as an enforcer for AJ's boyfriend, Dolph Ziggler, interfering in his matches.[31][32] On April 7, 2013, at WrestleMania 29, Langston and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) for the Tag Team Championship.[33] Langston wrestled his first match on *Raw* the following night, defeating Bryan.[34]

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.[35] On the June 10 episode of *Raw*, Langston was revealed as the secret admirer of Divas Champion Kaitlyn; this in turn was revealed to be a ploy by AJ, the number one contender to Kaitlyn's title, to humiliate Kaitlyn.[36]
 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.[37] Ziggler ended his relationship with AJ the following night on *Raw*, leading to Langston attack him later in the evening.[38] On the July 29 episode of *Raw*, Langston was defeated by Ziggler via disqualification after AJ interfered and attacked Ziggler.[39] In a rematch on the following week's *Raw*, Langston defeated Ziggler following a distraction by AJ and Kaitlyn.[40] On August 18 at SummerSlam, Langston and AJ were defeated by Ziggler and Kaitlyn in a mixed tag team match, putting an end to their feud.[41] After this loss, Langston stopped aiding AJ altogether and started wrestling alone.

#### Intercontinental Champion (2013–2014)

On the October 18 episode of *SmackDown*, Langston lost to CM Punk and turned face after the match when Langston took offense to Paul Heyman's comments about Punk beating "a rookie", and aided Punk in fending off an attack by Ryback and Curtis Axel.[42] Three days later, on the October 21 episode of *Raw*,

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Langston would team up with Punk to defeat Ryback and Axel, with

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Langston pinning Axel. Though granted a shot at Axel's Intercontinental
Championship, Axel's injury denied Langston this opportunity. Renewing
his rivalry with the Shield, Langston challenged for Dean Ambrose's United States Championship at Hell in a Cell. While Langston won the match by countout, he failed to win the title. The following night on *Raw*, Langston was granted a rematch for the title, winning by disqualification after Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins interfered.

On the November 18 episode of *Raw*, Langston was given his
championship match with Axel, where he defeated him to win the
Intercontinental Championship for the first time.[43] Six days later, at Survivor Series, Langston defeated Curtis Axel in his first title defense.[44] Langston successfully retained his championship against Damien Sandow at the TLC pay-per-view.[45] At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view with his ring name now shortened to "Big E", he successfully defended his championship against Jack Swagger.[46] Big E competed in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal at WrestleMania XXX, being eliminated by Fandango. At Extreme Rules on May 4, Big E dropped the Intercontinental title to Bad News Barrett, and failed to regain it the following night on *Raw*. Big E later became involved in a feud with Rusev, which lead to consecutive bouts at Payback[47] and at Money in the Bank, both of which Big E lost. At Battleground, Big E failed to win a battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship.

#### The New Day (2014–present)

Main article: The New Day (professional wrestling)

Big E (center) with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods as The New Day in January 2015

On the July 21 episode of *Raw*, after Big E and Kofi Kingston suffered another loss as a team, Xavier Woods

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confronted them, declaring that they could not "get ahead by kissing

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babies and shaking hands". Instead, it would be "their time" to "take".
The duo accepted Woods' offer,[48] and on the next day's *Main Event*, Woods managed Big E and Kingston to a decisive victory over Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil.[49] However, Woods' group quickly and quietly disbanded, as on the August 8 episode of *SmackDown* and on the August 12 episode of *Main Event*,

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both Big E and then Kingston reverted to wrestling singles matches with
no sign or mention of the other two members of the group.[50][51] Despite being disbanded on WWE television, Big E, Kingston and Woods maintained their alliance at live events.[52][53] From the November 3 episode of *Raw*, WWE began airing vignettes for Big E, Kingston and Woods, with the stable now being billed as "The New Day".[54] The New Day made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of *SmackDown* in a winning effort against Titus O'Neil, Heath Slater and Curtis Axel.[55]

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## In wrestling

Big E (back) on *Raw* in April 2013 with World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler (center) and their manager AJ Lee (foreground).

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Big Ending*[4] (Over-the-shoulder facebuster)[56][57]

* **Signature moves**
	+ *E-Train*[58] (Running body block)[4][57][59][60]
	+ Multiple knee lifts[61][62][63]
	+ Multiple punches to opponent's midsection[58][64]
	+ Multiple rib breakers[64]
	+ Overhead / Side belly to belly suplex[58][65][66][67][68]
	+ Running splash[58]
	+ Running turnbuckle thrust[65]
	+ Spear through the second and top ropes to an opponent standing on the apron[69][70][71]

* **Managers**
	+ **Xavier Woods**[72]

* **Wrestlers managed**
	+ AJ Lee[30]
	+ Dolph Ziggler[32]

* **Nicknames**
	+ "The Master of the Five Count"[73][74]

* **Entrance themes**
	+ "I Need Five" by Jim Johnston[75] (April 22, 2013 – November 18, 2013)
	+ "Three Ain't Enough" by Jim Johnston[76] (November 18, 2013 – July 20, 2014)
	+ **"New Day, New Way"** by Jim Johnston[77] (Used while a part of The New Day; November 28, 2014–present)

## Championships and accomplishments

Big E as the Intercontinental Champion.

* **Florida Championship Wrestling**
	+ FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Calvin Raines[15]

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him No. **24** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014[78]

* **WWE**
	+ WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[79]

* **WWE NXT**
	+ NXT Championship (1 time)[24]