Big E Compares Powerlifting To Wrestling, Rehabbing Injuries

During an interview with WWE's German outlet WWE Die Woche, Big E spoke about his powerlifting background and how it has influenced his WWE career.

“I feel like squatting is just, squatting is the best athletic lift, I think. I think it transfers pretty much anything you do in sports. You know, I played football, amateur wrestling, pretty much anything I’ve done, squatting is a great base. Everything, everything. I’ve always taken a lot of pride in my squat and doing it the right, hitting parallel and you know, I’m proud of the fact that, you know, squatting 750 pounds, don’t ask me if I can do that right, because I cannot. Squatting 750 is something that I’m really proud of. Doing that raw, doing it in a drug-tested federation as well, so I’ll go squat.”

On his biggest deadlift:

“I did it at a meet like 799 and some change, they’re very specific about these things because everything’s in kilos. But 806 was my best deadlift in the gym.”

On coming back from injuries:

“Honestly, rehab is one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with. Especially dealing with tearing my ACL at age 18. You spend nine months, and rehab it might be two hours and that’s on top of your weightlifting and all the other things that you’re doing. But it takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s not easy coming from surgery to working on your mobility to getting your strength back, to pushing it.

“One thing that, you know, a lot of athletes go through that I’ve talked to is just trusting your body. That’s a big thing again, is, okay, the first time I did the same motion I did when I tore my ACL, I have to do that again. I have to trust that my body is capable of doing that on a regular basis.”