On the March 11 episode of WWE SmackDown, Big E suffered a broken neck after landing awkwardly following a belly-to-belly suplex on the outside from Ridge Holland. As a result, Big E suffered a fracture to his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebra. Surgery was not required in order to fix the fractures.
On July 4, Big E said he feels tremendous and revealed that he will be re-evaluated in March 2023 at the one-year mark, noting that surgery was still off the table.
Speaking to Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Big E noted that he will also be evaluated at the six and nine-month marks, but there will be no clear answers until the one year mark.
During initial evaluations, Big E was told that the bump he took could have led to stroke, paralysis or death.
"It's very sobering to hear that," Big E said. "... I think to be great at something like [pro wrestling] or at least to be competent, you can't spend all your time worrying about possibly fatal injuries or breaking your neck. You have to go out there and be free and in the moment. I think a lot of us as performers don't spend a lot of time thinking about that stuff. I never thought I would be."
Big E received overwhelming support from the wrestling community following his injury with wrestlers from all companies posting kind messages and reaching out.
Ridge Holland has also reached out and sent him a package of red meat, which Big E gave to his friend as he doesn't eat red meat.
"I have no issue whatsoever with Ridge," Big E said. "He's reached out and said some very kind things. ... What we do is dangerous, and there are inherent dangers. And to that degree, we all kind of know what we sign up for and it was unfortunate that it went down that way. But I'm not dead. I'm alive. I'm doing well."
Big E said he is using a bone stimulator machine, has gotten stem-cell treatment and is taking calcium supplements. Otherwise, he said he is living basically a normal life and waiting to find out how long until he will be able to wrestle again.
While sidelined, Big E will help WWE at the talent tryouts for college athletes during SummerSlam weekend in Nashville.
You can learn more about the tryouts by clicking here.
Fightful would like to contnue to wish Big E all the best in his recovery.
