On the March 11, 2022 episode of WWE SmackDown, Big E suffered a neck injury when he landed on his head following a belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge Holland. Big E fractured his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebrae, but didn't suffer any ligament or spinal cord damage.
Big E won't know about a potential in-ring return until later this year when he goes for his one-year check up in March.
On the Hall of Fame podcast, Ric Flair and Booker T were discussing injuries in wrestling, and how the show doesn't get stopped for injuries, when Booker commented on Big E's injury.
"The one guy I always preached to was Big E. I said, 'Big E, stop jumping through the ropes. Stop doing that.' He didn't get hurt on that, but he got hurt on a belly-to-belly suplex to floor," said Booker.
Big E would often do a spear through the middle rope and to the outside during his matches.
Flair chimed in to say, "You know what's worse about that, Book? Number one, Big E is 300 pounds. I just had this conversation the other day. The agent, they didn't call that out there, the agent approved it."
Booker agreed, saying, "I feel that way too."
Flair closed with, "A kid, who has never done that, is giving a guy a belly-to-belly on the floor. I'll tell you who gives me a belly-to-belly on the floor. Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. That's it."
Flair then joked that he'd let Angle suplex him off his balcony, implying that Angle would still manage to keep him safe.
Ridge has expressed his remorse over the incident while Big E has said he has no issue with Ridge over what happened.
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