Take it from someone who wrote an article with a negative sounding headline* about The New Day shortly after they launched their gimmick, those guys remember doubters like they were Pepperidge Farms.
Maybe that’s why this anecdote about Big Show from their recent appearance on Peter Rosenberg’s Open Late show jumped out at me. Or maybe it’s Big E talking about poop. Either way, here’s the story Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods told their host about life backstage back in 2014, when they weren’t even one-time WWE Tag Team Champions yet...
E: So Big Show, when we were trying to get off the ground, Big Show would pull Kofi aside and say - like legit pull him to where you are [Rosenberg is about 3 - 5 feet away from The New Day], so we’re within earshot - and say, ‘What are you doing with those two? They’re bringing you down. You should be in the World Title picture...’
And, just - this is at a time when it’s not like ‘Oh Big Show, it’s all fun and games.’ Like, we’re struggling to get on TV me and Woods. We’re thinking we’re about to get fired.
Woods: Well you had been a champion. I’d been on the road three months doing nothing. So, I just came up from developmental, ‘Oh, everything’s shiny and new! I’m so happy to be here, guys!’ and then just taking a dump on me, like to my face.
E: A hot, steaming dump.
Kingston: And they’re right there. But, you know, he came around.
Rosenberg: Now, was he doing that - Kofi, do you think, you obviously had the relationship with him for longer - do you think he was doing it intentionally to try and get them going?
Kingston: No, I don’t think he cared that they were there at all. He was legit concerned for me, you know?
Woods: To his credit, of all the people that didn’t say things to our face - said things behind our back. He’s the one person who came up to us and said, ‘I was completely wrong. You guys are awesome and you’re killing it and I’m glad that you didn’t listen to me.’ The only one.
Kingston: Big Show’s the man. Big Show’s the man.
Weeellllll, in Big Show’s defense, it didn’t look good there for a while.
Goes to show you how far the group, and especially Xavier and Big E, have come that they’ve gone from “guys a veteran locker room leader didn’t care whether he disrespected them” to five time Tag Team Champs.
And that Big Show’s the man.
Check out the whole pre-SummerSlam “WWE Takeover” episode of Open Late, which in addition to covering hip-hop hot topics with ya boys also features a double date with Rusev & Lana and a one-on-one with Sasha Banks.
* Technically, that post was very high on the performers, but down on their babyface gimmick and the lazy way WWE launched it. I don’t want to relitigate that, though. So, if you’re reading X, “I was completely wrong. You guys are awesome and you’re killing it.”