Big E was disappointed with the way his WWE championship reign ended

Big E’s reign as WWE champion ended at Day 1 when he was pinned by Brock Lesnar in a Fatal 5-Way match. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Big E admitted that his run with the belt didn’t reach the heights he hoped for:

“I wanted it to be a five-course meal, and it was more of an appetizer. I’m overly critical of my work to begin with, so I wouldn’t say I was happy with it. My hope was to knock it out of the park, and I fell a bit short...I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to see it end that way.”

The end of Big E’s reign at the hands of Lesnar brought back memories of Kofi Kingston losing the same title to Brock in 2019 and immediately falling down the card. Big E wasn’t happy to see what happened to Kofi, and he plans to do everything he can to make sure that same fate doesn’t await him:

“I’m not comfortable being just a guy on the roster. I’m not good with going back to the way it was before...I don’t want to position it as learning from Kofi’s missteps. I know what his intentions were, and mine would have been the same. He didn’t do anything wrong. But I have learned that losing this title hurts...you can’t go from dropping a world championship to saying everything is golden.”

That Brock Lesnar was such a late addition to Big E’s match at Day 1 has many folks wondering about who was supposed to win the originally scheduled four way match between Big E, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley. The latest rumors suggest Big E was going to drop the title even if Lesnar never joined the match. Big E denies hearing anything about this:

“I never heard a finish. When it became a four-way, especially one so loaded, anything was a possibility. But I hadn’t heard anything about a finish.”

Royal Rumble 2022 is coming up on Sat., Jan. 29, and the winner of the titular gimmick match can challenge the WWE champion at WrestleMania 38. The former champ is an early favorite to win the Rumble, and that’s exactly what he plans to do:

“I am very grateful for my title run, but I still have a lot more to prove. I want to establish myself as one of the guys of this era, so my goal is to build multiple reigns.”

“There is so much more I need to do with that title. We’re just getting started, and this is my chance to start my climb back.”

Do you think Big E will win the Royal Rumble and take back the WWE championship at WrestleMania?