It’s been a little more than a year since WWE stalwart Big E suffered a scary injury on a fairly routine move on an episode of SmackDown. He’s bouncing back well from a broken C1 bone — the first vertebra t the top of the neck — but still has no timetable for a return to the ring.
The 37-year-old former WWE Champion provided a positive (fitting for a member of The New Day) update on his recovery on the latest episode of the Battleground podcast, explaining that while he’s feeling fine after receiving his one-year neck scans, that doesn’t mean his neck is ready to take bumps again just yet (h/t to Wrestling Observer for transcription).
It’s just a complicated fracture. I broke my C1 in two places so that Jefferson fracture, is what it’s called, it just takes a little bit more time to heal. So, we just did the one years scans after WrestleMania, it was a little bit later because of WrestleMania. We have to sit down with the doctors at some point and kind of figure out what the next step is but from my perspective, I feel great, I have no function issues, no pain issues, I’ve been at the gym since two weeks after I broke my neck. I’m just feeling great and I’m really grateful for all that. It’s just, obviously, your neck has to be in a certain condition to deal with the rigors of being in the ring on a nightly basis.
Big E has said before that one of the hurdles for his return is for his injury to fully ossify, or turn to bone, before he could resume wrestling.
In the meantime, it’s clear that he’s comfortable as a more regular presence around WWE events and as an ambassador for the company. Big E was in Los Angeles during WrestleMania 39 week, where among other things, he received a touching tribute from his fellow wrestlers and people who know him best at WaleMania.
The USFL’s Michigan Panthers also announced this week that Big E would serve as the emcee for the team’s home games at Ford Field — which just happens to be the location for SummerSlam later this year.
While co-workers and fans alike root for him to complete his healing, as Bianca Belair told Wrestling Junkie in the WrestleMania media week interview you can see below, it’s simply great to see him back around WWE in general, as his presence alone lifts everyone’s spirits.
[mm-video type=video id=01gwwfzrm5jzm9kz8f6w playlist_id=01fy4fq5a2ydf3473e player_id=01fy4fdj4wf1e6rpxb image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gwwfzrm5jzm9kz8f6w/01gwwfzrm5jzm9kz8f6w-e537db1542fb3c1030b1f75e800bc403.jpg]