Ettore Ewen (born March 1, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, competing in WWE under the ring name of Big E. Prior to joining WWE, Ewen was a powerlifter, having won many championships and setting records at both state and national levels. Ewen joined WWE in 2009 and adopted the "Big E Langston" moniker. The "Langston" was dropped in February 2014 and now he's just "Big E". He's most known however for his work as a part of The New Day, being the Incoming Ham announcer for their antics, his spacey, boisterous personality, and his impressive feats of strength.
Big E is a one-time WWE champion, a two-time Intercontinental champion, a one-time NXT champion, an 8-time WWE Tag Team Champion (as part of The New Day), winner of the 2021 Men's Money in the Bank contract, and the 33rd WWE Triple Crown Champion.
"Big Tropes":
- The Artifact: His first main roster theme song, which was ported from NXT along with him even though his five-count gimmick hasn't been so much as referenced during his time on the main roster. Oddly enough, the gimmick would finally be given a Continuity Nod after ditching the theme for the New Day gimmick, with Big E and Kofi jokingly alluding to it while complaining about having to face five opposing teams to defend their titles in an Elimination Chamber match, and Big E later celebrating when the team won their fifth Tag Team Championship.
- Battle Strip: If you're in the ring with Big E and the straps on his singlet come down (ergo, his massive pecs are showing)... chances are, bad things are about to happen to you.
- Berserk Button: He didn't take it lightly when Paul Heyman called him a "marginally talented rookie" and helped CM Punk to take on both Ryback and Curtis Axel.
- Beware the Silly Ones: As Apollo Crews would find the out, the hip-twerking, innuendo-spouting, hamtastic big man is still capable of tossing you straight past next week into next month.
- Big Brother Mentor: Seems to have one in Mark Henry... which makes sense, as absurd physical strength is both men's stock in trade. Also, Big E gives Henry a lot of the real-life credit for his current position within WWE, given that Henry is the one that scouted Big E and recommended him to WWE execs.
- Big Fun: Big E is not a fat guy but a muscle guy. As part of the New Day.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Early in his career he showed signs of this, but then attempted to keep it under wraps. As his life with the new day shows, he's one of the biggest, loudest, funniest dudes in the company
- The Brute: To Dolph Ziggler, and then to A.J. Lee.
- Carnival of Killers: Attempted by Vickie Guerrero, who put a bounty on Big E's head but defied by Dusty Rhodes who put a stop any further collection attempts after the first two failed.
- Characterization Marches On: Debuted on the main roster as an enforcing brute for AJ Lee and Dolph Ziggler, and bordered on being a Silent Antagonist earlier on. While he had already shown shades of having a comical undertone even then, he was just as prone to being Comically Serious compared to his then two much hammier cohorts. Only with the forming of The New Day along with cohorts Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, that he finally established his well-known persona as the Big Fun and Boisterous Bruiser, a powerhouse of spreading positivity, and considerably downplays the Scary Black Man aspect of the character.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: He's a nationally ranked powerlifter, with a max deadlift of about 800 pounds. Michael Cole once said during one of his matches that he uses a 400+ pound bench as his rep weight. He's very nearly in the class of Mark Henry (who, it's worth noting, outweighs him by 100 pounds or more), and that's saying quite a bit.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He initially didn't say much, but when he did talk (or tweet, for that matter), it was pretty obvious that his personality is...let's say, a bit off-center. No wonder he and A.J. Lee got along so well.
- Downplayed Trope: WWE seems intent on pushing him as a no-nonsense aggressive brute, even though he seems to be playful and capable of cutting interesting if nonsensical promos. They are also keeping him in standard matches rather than using the five count gimmick that got him over prior.
- Big E went full-tilt into Cloudcuckoolander territory with the formation of The New Day. On a weekly basis, he and his stable are the hammiest, weirdest thing on WWE programming.
- Composite Character: After been split from The New Day during the 2020 WWE Draft, he reverts back to his five-count gimmick, but keeps his hammy cloudcuckoo-landing personality.
- Curse Cut Short: A frequent victim, as he has a tendency to almost get the New Day an FCC violation before Xavier and Kofi stop him.
- The Comically Serious: When he was with Dolph Ziggler and A.J. Lee, who are both pretty hammy, he rarely said anything.
- Dare to Be Badass: At the start of his singles push in 2020, Big E was initially reluctant to make a serious run go of it, as the opportunity only arose as Xavier and Kofi were both injured at the time; it was only when Kofi explicitly told E that he had their blessing that he started to actively pursue the Intercontinental championship.
- Deadpan Snarker: While his on-screen character can occasionally toss a good jab in here or there, on social media he has this down to a t.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: At Crown Jewel 2021, E put his WWE Championship on the line against Drew McIntyre, one of the most valued, protected men in all of wrestling at the time. There, he became of exactly one of four men (the others being Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and Goldberg) to kick out of Drew's One-Hit Kill Claymore Kick, leaving the Scottish Warrior looking like he just witnessed an alien landing.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Type 2 in a Elimination Chamber 2012 promo, where he appeared with other FCW wrestlers at John Cena's gym.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Possibly one of the most extreme examples in all of wrestling. When Big E first debuted on the main roster as Dolph Ziggler's henchman, he was a silent enforcer type who almost never spoke or emoted in any way. To call this a far cry from the persona he made famous would be an understatement.
- Finishing Move: The Big Ending - a jumping over-the-shoulder cutter.
- Fleeting Demographic Rule: His gimmick in NXT was beating down opponents enough for a five count pin as opposed to a three count, a gimmick made famous by King Kong Bundy.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Fractured his neck on a botched overhead belly-to-belly suplex in the lead-up to Wrestlemania 38. He's since received a prognosis of a full recovery as far as functionality goes but actually wrestling again isn't a certainty.
- Heel–Face Turn: On the 10/18/13 Smackdown - after CM Punk beat him in a match, Paul Heyman showed up with Ryback and Curtis Axel to sarcastically congratulate Punk on beating a 'marginally talented rookie.' Big E didn't take kindly to this, and when Heyman sent Ryback and Axel down to the ring to pound on Punk, Axel got pounded on by Big E instead...
- Heroic Build: ...Well, yeah. The picture sort of says it all.
- Homage: The colors and lion insignia on his singlet are this to his heritage - Jamaican and Montserratian, to be exact.
- Incoming Ham:
- His ring entrance features quite a bit of barking, chest pounding, and LOTS of chalk. It's a bit LeBron James meets Titus O'Neil.
- As a member of The New Day, quite possibly the biggest pro-wrestling incoming ham ever (starting around mid-2015). All of their entrances are preceded by the following monologue
:Big E.: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, [city the show is in]!!!! DON'T YOU DARE BE SOUR! CUH-LAP FOR YOUR [TAG/TWO-TIME/SOON-TO-BE] CHAMPS! AND FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL! THE POOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!
- It Amused Me: The reason he throws his ring coat at Corey Graves is simply that he finds it funny and nobody has told him to stop. This actually applies to any of the odd funny things he gets up to in during his entrance.
- Large Ham: OH. DEAR. GOD. Actually, some of the signs were always there if you trace his career back to NXT, but once he joined The New Day, he assumed a spot as one of the largest and most visible hams in all of pro wrestling.
- Lightning Bruiser: Very athletic for a 285-pounder. Can also deadlift the equivalent of three or four grown men and hit like a ton of bricks, with the explosiveness and speed of someone half his size.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Is infamous for his comically enthusiastic public flirting via Twitter; for example, there's a tweet regarding the IIconicsnote and the ongoing series between him and Becky Lynch's mother.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: In Big E's case, very, very meaningful. See Charles Atlas Superpower.
- Noodle Incident/The Unreveal: Exactly what the hell was Big E's former history with A.J. Lee? We never found out.
- Only One Name: The "Langston" was dropped from his name in 2014, as was the style at the time.
- One-Letter Name: If we're going with the logical assumption that "Big" is simply an adjective, we're left with just 'E' as his name. Though his real name is Ettore Ewen, which is possibly where the 'E' comes from. Confirmed by an offhand comment by Michael Cole. At one point, however, he joked on his Twitter page that he'd start telling people his full name is "Bigamus Ernell Langston," and that some would probably believe him.
- Ramming Always Works: Well, of course it does when you're built like a tank and can deadlift well over a quarter of a ton. But Big E's rarely-used shoulder block/spear is notable in that he performs it suicide-style (diving to the outside of the ring) to an opponent on the ring apron.
- Redemption Demotion: Back when Big E worked for Ziggler, he could easily power out of Alberto Del Rio's cross arm breaker and even pinned the champion clean once. He was nigh unstoppable. When the roles were reversed, Big E was reduced to being completely ineffectual in any action that wasn't simply running into Del Rio, who easily made Big E tap with the cross arm breaker.
- Redemption Promotion: Debuted on the main WWE programming as Dolph Ziggler & AJ Lee's enforcer, meaning he was affiliated with the World Heavyweight & Divas champions; then Ziggler dropped the WHC & turned face, leaving Langston as bodyguard to AJ Lee; before he & AJ were quietly split up off-screen, leaving him languishing in the opening card; at which point he turned face, promptly became the Intercontinental champion & began appearing on Raw & SmackDown each week.
- Scary Black Man: A Subversion. Because of his quirkiness, he doesn't fit the profile from a personality standpoint at all. Double Subverted if you manage to piss him off, though, as Apollo Crews and others have found out the hard way.
- Signature Move: The splash.
- The Stoic/The Quiet One: He was this for a couple weeks, and seemed to fit this gimmick full-on... and then he started talking, revealing that he is much more eccentric than your usual menacing big man.
- The Straight Man: Acted this to A.J. Lee's craziness.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Played with in his 'five-count' gimmick. To put it in layman's terms, he liked to beat opponents so thoroughly that he could score a pinfall of five counts instead of three - and in most cases, it worked.
- Token Good Teammate: Continued to wrestle as a face on NXT despite being affiliated with heels on Raw and Smackdown. For anyone watching both shows, this also caused Heel–Face Revolving Door.
- Ur-Example: He is the first to hold the NXT title and a single main roster title (Intercontinental Championship).
- Vetinari Job Security: Stated on twitter once that "I Couldn't get fired if I tried." Given that he's often the guy with the best joke for the promos for one of the most popular Tag teams of all time, it's hard to say he's wrong.
- Worthy Opponent: Drew McIntyre, who came seconds away from ending E's title reign before it really began at Crown Jewel 2021. After a perilously narrow retention, Drew gave him a thumbs up from the ramp, and in a post-match interview Big E had nothing but praise for Drew's abilities.
