WrestleMania Vegas is a mere couple of months away. As we inch closer to sport’s entertainment’s grandest event, the story of “The New Day” is one that I’m highly intrigued by. “The New Day” kicked out their beloved member Big E some months back. Beloved by the audience, Big E was seen as the spiritual anchor of the group. He was famously kicked out of the faction several weeks back. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods cited E’s inactivity as being the reason why they felt they didn’t need him anymore.
Back in March of 2022, Big E severely injured his neck during a match on WWE Smackdown. The injury nearly paralyzed him. So, to no one’s surprise, his in-ring career had to come to a halt. Since then, he has been healing rather nicely, but the possibility of his return still looms. E reserves and deserves the right to be mum about any further progress with his healing. However, I truly feel that with him and his injury becoming a focal point of “The New Day”‘s heel turn, I feel like it’s a vehicle for something more.
From the moment that Kingston and Woods turned their back on Big E, I immediately thought, “Oh, we’re building to a Big E return!” Mark my words right here today that I predict that we will get a Big E return at Wrestlemania Vegas. To me, it’s what makes the most sense. “The New Day” is seeking to once again cement themselves as a heel faction. At a huge event like Wrestlemania, what a marquee return to present fans with.
The beauty of this all, from a storytelling perspective, is that we’re featuring premier Black talent. But this story doesn’t have to use Blackness as a theme, or conduit to tell said story. This story is about brotherhood at its core. What happens when brothers don’t see eye to eye? Can brothers ever get back? We’re invested in the history of the wrestlers involved. The shift in attitude of “The New Day” has to have a pay-off. There has to be a comeuppance Big E returning to deliver just that, is perfect math to me.
Although Big E worked his “desk job” as an analyst at this past Saturday’s Royal Rumble, I think he is training. If I were scripting this, he would somehow make a return at the Elimination Chamber event in a few weeks. I know some may have expected him at the Rumble, but I feel like WWE is just keeping us on our toes. As someone who absolutely enjoys watching WWE, I’m very much entrenched in this long-form and callback style of storytelling. Truly, where “The New Day” goes, who really knows. But mark my words, this is probably the most storybook way this thing can go. Come April, I hope to be able to say I told you so.
