Ettore Ewen (born March 1, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and former powerlifter. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and Smackdown brand under the ring name Big E, but is currently on hiatus due to a broken neck. In addition to his singles career in professional wrestling, he is a decorated tag team wrestler as part of The New Day with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
Ewen was a collegiate football player at the University of Iowa and later became a powerlifter and a USA Powerlifting champion. He also won a state championship in high-school wrestling. Upon signing with WWE in 2009, Ewen was assigned to its developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Big E Langston. After FCW was rebranded to NXT, he became the second NXT Champion. He was promoted to WWE's main roster in December 2012, and found his greatest success as a part of The New Day, with whom he has become a two-time Raw Tag Team Champion and a six-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion. As a part of The New Day, he holds the tandem record for the longest Raw Tag Team Championship reign at 483 days. In 2020, Ewen resumed his singles career and was eventually separated from his New Day teammates in the 2020 WWE Draft. He won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2021, before successfully cashing it in later that year to win the WWE Championship once, becoming the 33rd Triple Crown Champion in the company's history. Additionally, he is a two-time Intercontinental Champion.
Early life
Ettore Ewen was born in Tampa, Florida, on March 1, 1986, the son of Margaret and Ettore Ewen. He is of Jamaican and Montserratian descent. He attended middle school starting in 7th grade and High School at Tampa Preparatory School in Tampa, where he won a number of athletic honors, including a state championship in wrestling. After his junior year of high school he transferred to Wharton High School in order to play football and was named Hillsborough County's "Ironman of the Year". Upon graduating, Ewen attended the University of Iowa, where he played American football as a defensive lineman for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He redshirted in 2004 and missed the 2005 season due to an injury sustained in preseason camp, playing a single season as a sophomore in 2006. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After college, Ewen turned his attention to the sport of powerlifting.
Powerlifting career
Ewen competed in his first USA Powerlifting (USAPL) meet on July 11 at the 2010 United States Open Championships at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida. He became the top heavyweight lifter, breaking all four Florida state raw powerlifting records in the 275-pound class and besting 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 2011 USAPL Raw Nationals in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This time, he competed in the super heavyweight division (275+lbs) and broke the raw American and national records in the deadlift (799 lbs) and total (2,039 lbs). All of his national and American raw records have since been broken.
Personal records
Set in official competition
Squat – 711 lbs (322.5 kg) raw without knee wraps
Bench press – 529 lbs (240 kg) raw
Deadlift – 799 lbs (362.5 kg) raw
Powerlifting total – 2,039 lbs 925 kg (322.5-240-362.5) raw without knee wraps
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. Big E 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/WWE
Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2012) After injuries ended Ewen's dreams of being a professional footballer, Ewen was introduced to professional wrestling by someone who knew Jim Ross. At the suggestion of said person, Ewen was given a tryout in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), a developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He became convinced that he could be good at it and do wrestling for a living, and WWE signed a developmental contract with him in 2009. According to Ewen, although he had been a wrestling fan as a child, he had "never thought this [was] something you could do for a living, and I would never have. ... Thankfully I was in the right place and the right time, and it's something that I have developed a passion for."
