As noted, Big E. recently appeared as a guest on the “After The Bell with Corey Graves” podcast for an in-depth interview.
During his appearance on the official WWE podcast, the former member of The New Day who is beginning a push as a singles Superstar in WWE spoke about his early days with the company.
According to Big E., former member of The Nexus, Michael Tarver, is someone who he gives a lot of credit to for being a mentor of his when he was first learning the ropes in the big leagues.
Featured below is an excerpt from Big E.’s appearance on WWE: ATB where he talks about Michael Tarver helping him out in his early days with WWE.
Michael Tarver meant so much to me and my career because I remember there was a point where I was real green, and he was a guy who was ready to go up. He was seasoned, and I was probably only a year or so into the business. I was not like a Chad Gable or a [Kurt] Angle, a guy who just picked it up immediately. It took me a while to pick things up, and I remember Tarver and I, we were just kind of married.
I think we had like six consecutive matches, these little spot shows, and I remember he would just sit down with me and talk to me about psychology and not just in a broad sense, but the way he perceived me. He was like, ‘man, I see you kind of like as a Black Superman,’ and at the time, no one else was giving me that sense of confidence.
No one else was was talking to me in that way and he helped me just think of the way I want to portray my character, the way I need to go out in the ring, the stuff between the moves that means so much, and that was the first time where I really got to think of my character in this kind of holistic sense. So I always give Tarver so much thanks. I see him from time to time in the gym in Tampa, and I always tell him how much he meant to my career.
Check out the complete Big E. interview from the latest episode of WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves at Apple.com, or wherever you get your favorite pro wrestling podcasts.
