Ettore “Big E” Ewen has sustained a gnarly injury after falling on his head during WWE Smackdown on Friday, March 11. During the evening, Big E and Kofi Kingston faced off against Sheamus and Ridge Holland. While Big E was facing off with Ridge, Ridge delivered what’s known as a belly-to-belly suplex to Big E while they were outside of the ring. Unfortunately, Big E wasn’t able to complete the flip and landed on the ground head first. Rewatch how the incident went down below.
oh god noo…. Big E dropped on his head. Please be okay #Smackdown pic.twitter.com/QgIgdvGnlW
— Deke Stokes ︎ (@2Sweet444Life) March 12, 2022
It was clear in the moments immediately following that Big E was injured as he lay on the floor. Shortly after, he was rushed out of the stadium in a stretcher as concerned spectators watched on. The professional wrestler, fortunately, was feeling well enough to update his fans from the hospital a couple of hours later. He uploaded a video of himself laying in a hospital bed wearing a neck brace as he spoke directly to his fans.
Regardless of the injury he endured, he still managed to keep a positive attitude and smiled throughout the video. “I can’t thank all of you beautiful people enough for all of your concern and your messages. It’s very heartwarming. I can move all my digits,” he said while wiggling his fingers in front of the camera. “You see that? That’s nice. That’s always a good thing. Strength feels fine but unfortunately, right now, they tell me my neck is broken. So there’s that. But once again, thank you, everybody. I’m gonna be alright. I’ll be good. Don’t worry.”
— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) March 12, 2022
Big E recently revealed that he was going to retire when he turned 35 years old. “So 35 felt like at the time a good time to get out and I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” he told The US Sun in December. However, now he’s 36 and at the time of the interview, he felt like he could keep going. “I don’t know if I’m going to wrestle into my forties as I always told myself that I would make sure I was out before then, but my body feels great,” he added.
“In the ring, I feel leaner and my cardio is getting better. There’s so much about where I’m at physically that I’m really appreciating,” he continued. “So, if my body holds up, I’m feeling good and it makes sense, then we’ll keep going for a few more years.” Unfortunately, those retirement plans may have to be moved up after this injury.