Mid 20th Century
134-472: Tolulope " Jordan " Omogbehin (born May 16, 1994) is a Nigerian professional wrestler and former college basketball player. He is signed to WWE , where he performs under the ring name Omos and is the tallest wrestler on WWE's active roster. In the course of his career as a college basketball player, he played for the University of South Florida and Morgan State University from 2014 to 2015 and played as
268-482: A bodyguard shortly thereafter, serving as the doorman and bouncer for Shane McMahon's Raw Underground . In October 2020, after the cancellation of Raw Underground , Omogbehin began associating with AJ Styles , thus establishing himself as a heel. At Survivor Series , Omogbehin was introduced with a new ring name, Omos. At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs , Omos was involved in the WWE Championship match with
402-488: A choke bomb and pinned him. At SummerSlam , Omos and Styles lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ). At Extreme Rules , Omos and Styles teamed with Bobby Lashley to take on The New Day in a 6-man tag team match, in which Styles, Omos and Lashley lost. After this, it was announced that Styles and Omos would face RK-Bro in a rematch for the tag team titles at Crown Jewel . At
536-412: A collegiate football player at the University of Iowa and later became a powerlifter and a USA Powerlifting champion. He also won a state championship in high-school wrestling . Upon signing with WWE in 2009, Ewen was assigned to its developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Big E Langston. After FCW was rebranded to NXT , he became the second NXT Champion . He
670-414: A developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He became convinced that he could be good at it and do wrestling for a living, and WWE signed a developmental contract with him in 2009. According to Ewen, although he had been a wrestling fan as a child, he had "never thought this [was] something you could do for a living, and I would never have. ... Thankfully I was in the right place and
804-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
938-609: A "falling off of a cliff feeling at the hands of one Brock Lesnar and then suddenly, it feels like you woke up a year prior and you're back to doing what you were doing before." In late January 2022, Big E was officially moved back to SmackDown, reuniting with Kofi Kingston as part of The New Day. On the March 11 episode of SmackDown , during a match against Ridge Holland and Sheamus, Holland delivered an overhead belly-to-belly suplex to Big E at ringside, resulting in Big E accidentally landing on
1072-475: A $ 5,000 bounty to anyone who could put Langston "on the shelf"; but attempts to claim the bounty by Chad Baxter and Camacho were firmly squashed by Langston. The bounty was ultimately declared void by NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes . Langston then began to feud with The Shield , and on the January 9, 2013 episode of NXT , Langston defeated The Shield member Seth Rollins in a No Disqualification match to win
1206-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1340-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1474-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
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#17328758538231608-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1742-505: A clean loss. In an interview published in March 2022, Ewen gave his views on his WWE Championship reign, stating that if it were up to him, he would choose a "longer" reign so that he could "do some more dynamic things". Ewen further stated that it was "difficult [for people] to really latch onto a new champion" when "within their first month, [the champion has] multiple losses on TV". Ewen then compared his world title reign and how it ended to Kofi Kingston's, suggesting that both of them had
1876-427: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Big E (wrestler) This is an accepted version of this page Ettore Ewen (born March 1, 1986)
2010-586: A fatal four-way tag team match also involving the team of Rusev and Aiden English , and Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin . On January 28, Big E entered the 2018 Royal Rumble match as the ninth entrant but failed to win the match after being eliminated by Jinder Mahal . At Fastlane on March 11, The New Day faced The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but the match went to a no-contest after interference from The Bludgeon Brothers . On April 8, at WrestleMania 34 , The New Day faced
2144-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2278-451: A forward for King University men’s basketball team from 2015 to 2016. Omogbehin signed with WWE in January 2019 and became a one-time Raw Tag Team Champion with AJ Styles in 2021. In 2012 while at USF Omogbehin was partially medically cleared. His medical testing showed he had a pituitary tumor in his brain. The tumor was responsible for his high Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) levels, gigantism and Cushing Disease . The tumor
2412-524: A forward for King University men’s basketball team in NCAA Division II from 2015 to 2016. It was reported on January 1, 2019, that WWE signed Omogbehin with six other athletes to train at the WWE Performance Center . On July 18, 2019, Omogbehin made his in-ring debut during a July 18 house show, defeating team 2.0 in a two-on-one handicap match. He would keep wrestling on house shows during
2546-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
2680-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2814-704: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
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#17328758538232948-570: A medical doctor who graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of South Florida where he attended; they have been dating since their high school days. The couple were married on Thursday June 1, 2023, in Florida. Omogbehin is a fan of anime , recommending Jujutsu Kaisen to fellow wrestler Ricochet . He says he got into anime in his native Nigeria, where the local channels aired Rurouni Kenshin as part of an after school programming bloc of cartoons. Omos made his video game debut as
3082-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3216-516: A playable character in WWE 2K22 , and since then has appeared in WWE Supercard , WWE Mayhem, WWE Champions, WWE 2K23 , and WWE 2K24 . Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with
3350-520: A professional wrestler in WWE. Big E has also bench pressed 575 lbs (260 kg) raw touch and go in the gym, but it was not a competition lift. After injuries ended Ewen's dreams of being a professional footballer, he was introduced to professional wrestling by someone who knew Jim Ross . At the suggestion of said person, Ewen was given a tryout in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW),
3484-556: A rematch on the following week's Raw , Langston defeated Ziggler following a distraction by AJ. On August 18 at SummerSlam , Langston and AJ were defeated by Ziggler and Kaitlyn in a mixed tag team match , effectively ending their feud. On the October 18 episode of SmackDown , Langston took offense to Paul Heyman , after Heyman downplaying CM Punk 's victory over Langston and calling Langston "a rookie", Langston then aided Punk in fending off Curtis Axel and Ryback , turning face in
3618-660: A steel cage match on the May 16 episode of Raw . At Hell in a Cell , Omos and MVP lost to Lashley in a 2-on-1 handicap match , ending their feud. On the June 20 episode of Raw , Omos would qualify for the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match after defeating Riddle. At the event, he would fail at winning the match after being thrown through the announce table by all the other competitors. At Crown Jewel on November 5, Omos lost to Braun Strowman , and
3752-404: A tag team gauntlet match. Shortly after WrestleMania, Big E suffered a legitimate knee injury which sidelined him for weeks. He later returned and earned another SmackDown tag team title opportunity at Extreme Rules on July 14, where Big E and Xavier Woods defeated Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan, and Heavy Machinery to win the titles (during this reign, Kingston was not recognized as champion as he
3886-501: A title match at Night of Champions on September 20, where they lost by disqualification. At Hell in a Cell on October 25, they defeated The Dudley Boyz to retain their titles, ending their feud. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, The New Day retained the title against The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and The Lucha Dragons ( Kalisto and Sin Cara ) in a triple threat tag team ladder match . On January 24, 2016, at
4020-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
4154-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
Omos - Misplaced Pages Continue
4288-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4422-399: Is an American former professional wrestler and powerlifter . He is signed to WWE , where he performs under the ring name Big E ; he appears only in non-wrestling capacities due to a cervical fracture of the spine he suffered in March 2022. In addition to his singles career, he is a decorated tag team wrestler as part of The New Day with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods . Ewen was
4556-526: Is of Jamaican and Montserratian descent. He attended middle school starting in 7th grade and High School at Tampa Preparatory School in Tampa, where he won a number of athletic honors, including a state championship in wrestling. After his junior year of high school he transferred to Wharton High School in order to play football and was named Hillsborough County 's "Ironman of the Year". Upon graduating, Ewen attended
4690-451: The 2020 WWE Draft . He won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2021, before successfully cashing it in later that year to win the WWE Championship once , becoming the 33rd Triple Crown Champion in the company's history. Additionally, he is a two-time Intercontinental Champion . Ettore Ewen was born in Tampa, Florida , on March 1, 1986, the son of Margaret and Ettore Ewen. He
4824-568: The Elimination Chamber match early before being ejected by WWE official Adam Pearce . On the March 15, 2021, episode of Raw , Omos announced that he would be making his televised in-ring debut at WrestleMania 37 alongside Styles against The New Day ( Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ) for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship . At the event, Omos and Styles defeated The New Day to win the titles, after Omos hit Kingston with
4958-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
5092-635: The Raw brand while Big E remained on the SmackDown brand, starting a singles career which included a new theme by Wale and titantron separate from The New Day. On the December 25 episode of SmackDown (taped on December 22), Big E defeated Sami Zayn in a lumberjack match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the second time. On the January 8, 2021 episode of SmackDown , Big E defended
5226-583: The Royal Rumble , Langston participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Sheamus . At Elimination Chamber on February 23, with his ring name now shortened to Big E, he successfully defended the title against Jack Swagger . At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, Big E competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal , which was won by Cesaro. On May 4, at Extreme Rules , Big E lost
5360-703: The Royal Rumble , they retained the title against The Usos. At Fastlane on February 21, The New Day turned face by mocking The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, and King Barrett), starting a feud. They retained their titles at Roadblock on March 12 against The League of Nations. On April 3, at WrestleMania 32 , The New Day were defeated by The League of Nations in a six-man tag team match. The following night on Raw , they successfully retained their title against The League of Nations, ending their feud. After WrestleMania, they retained their title at Extreme Rules on May 22 against The Vaudevillains ( Aiden English and Simon Gotch ), and at Money in
5494-696: The SmackDown brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up . At Battleground on July 23, Kingston and Woods, representing The New Day, defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships for the first time. Though Big E did not wrestle himself, due to The New Day defending the titles under the Freebird Rule, Big E is also recognized as a champion. The New Day lost the tag titles back to The Usos at SummerSlam on August 20. The Usos held
Omos - Misplaced Pages Continue
5628-603: The TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14. On January 25, 2015, at the Royal Rumble , The New Day lost to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro , ending their winning streak. Later that night, Big E participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, they failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way match , as well as being eliminated by Big Show in
5762-762: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
5896-510: The University of Iowa , where he played American football as a defensive lineman for the Iowa Hawkeyes . He redshirted in 2004 and missed the 2005 season due to an injury sustained in preseason camp, playing a single season as a sophomore in 2006. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After college, Ewen turned his attention to the sport of powerlifting . Ewen competed in his first USA Powerlifting (USAPL) meet on July 11 at
6030-850: The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships due to the brand split, the titles held by the New Day were renamed the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. On the August 1 episode of Raw , Big E suffered a storyline contusion to the groin area after an attack by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. At SummerSlam on August 21, Big E returned from injury by attacking Gallows and Anderson during their match against Kingston and Woods, resulting in Gallows and Anderson winning by disqualification. At Clash of Champions on September 25, The New Day retained
6164-593: The WWE Tag Team Championship . Langston wrestled his first singles match on Raw the following night, defeating Daniel Bryan. After Ziggler suffered a concussion in May, Langston competed in a best-of-five series against Ziggler's opponent for the World Heavyweight Championship , Alberto Del Rio , which Del Rio won 3–2. On the June 10 episode of Raw , Langston was revealed as the secret admirer of Divas Champion Kaitlyn ; this in turn
6298-638: The WrestleMania Axxess event in April 2012, Langston defeated Antonio Cesaro . When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT , Langston made his NXT debut on August 1, 2012, defeating Adam Mercer. This marked the start of a winning streak for Langston, who from September started repeatedly performing his finisher on his opponents and demanding that referees count to five (rather than the usual three) before awarding him pinfalls . After Langston rejected Vickie Guerrero 's managerial services, Guerrero promised
6432-432: The eponymous stipulation , preventing The Miz from reaching the title and dropping him onto a table placed outside the ring before chasing John Morrison to the back. At Royal Rumble , during the 2021 Royal Rumble match , Omos involved himself by preventing AJ Styles from being eliminated on a few occasions. Omos eliminated Big E and Rey Mysterio despite not being in the match. He would also go on to help Styles enter
6566-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
6700-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
6834-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
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#17328758538236968-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
7102-459: The 2010 United States Open Championships at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida . He became the top heavyweight lifter, breaking all four Florida state raw powerlifting records in the 275-pound class and besting raw national records in the deadlift and total. His lifts included a 611-pound squat , a 490-pound bench press , and a 749-pound deadlift for a 1,850 pound raw total. Ewen also won
7236-507: The 2011 USAPL Raw Nationals in Scranton, Pennsylvania . This time, he competed in the super heavyweight division (275+lbs) and broke the raw American and national records in the deadlift (799 lbs) and total (2,039 lbs). All of his national and American raw records have since been broken. The American and National Championship Records in the deadlift are held at 410 kg (903.9 lbs) since 1995 by Mark Henry , who also became
7370-535: The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. On the April 6 episode of Raw , The New Day turned heel, after fans responded negatively to the group. At Extreme Rules on April 26, Big E and Kingston defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. On May 17, at Payback , The New Day defeated Kidd and Cesaro to retain their titles. At Elimination Chamber on May 31, The New Day retained
7504-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
7638-460: The Bank on July 18, he won the men's ladder match, becoming the first African-American competitor to hold the contract. On the August 13 episode of SmackDown , Baron Corbin stole his briefcase during a backstage interview. At the SummerSlam pre-show on August 21, Big E defeated Corbin to regain the briefcase. On September 13, Big E declared on Twitter that he would be cashing in his Money in
7772-465: The Bank on June 19 against The Vaudevillains, Enzo Amore and Big Cass , and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a fatal-four-way match. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft , Big E, along with his fellow New Day teammates, was drafted to the Raw brand . Three days later, on July 22, The New Day became the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, breaking the record of 331 days previously set by Paul London and Brian Kendrick . After SmackDown established
7906-490: The Bank contract for a WWE Championship match on that night's Raw , which already had a WWE Championship match scheduled between champion Bobby Lashley and challenger Randy Orton. After Lashley won, Big E cashed in for an immediate title match and pinned Lashley, winning the WWE Championship for the first time in his career, and celebrating with the rest of the New Day. On the September 27 episode of Raw , Big E defended
8040-611: The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, eliminating Kit Wilson before accidentally eliminating himself. On August 16, MVP left WWE when his contract expired ending the 2-year alliance between the two. Omogbehin has a younger brother and niece living in Indiana. His parents and other brother live in Nigeria. He is fluent in English , French , and Yoruba . On March 17, 2023, Omogbehin declared his interest in marrying his longtime partner Cheyenne Quailey,
8174-486: The Intercontinental Championship against Apollo Crews , and the match ended in a double-pinfall draw, but after a match restart, Big E scored the victory. On the January 22 episode of SmackDown , his match with Crews ended in a no contest after Zayn interfered and attacked both of them. At the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, Big E entered the Royal Rumble match and eliminated Zayn, Mustafa Ali , The Hurricane , and Bobby Lashley , before being eliminated by Omos (who
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#17328758538238308-460: The Intercontinental Championship on the May 21 episode of SmackDown in a fatal four-way which included Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, but was unsuccessful when Aleister Black attacked him. He was set to feud with Black, but it was cancelled when Black was released from WWE. On the June 25 episode of SmackDown , Big E defeated Crews to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match . At Money in
8442-475: The July 24 episode of SmackDown , Kingston revealed that he would be out of action for six weeks and gave Big E the blessing to go on a solo run. Big E would then embark on his singles run as he entered a feud with Sheamus , whom he defeated on August 3 at Payback and on the October 9 episode of SmackDown in a Falls Count Anywhere match . As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Kingston and Woods were drafted to
8576-447: The Line on December 18, The New Day lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to Cesaro and Sheamus , ending their record-breaking championship reign at 483 days. On January 29, all members were in the Royal Rumble match but were eliminated by Sheamus and Cesaro. On February 20, 2017, they were announced as the hosts of WrestleMania 33 . On April 11, 2017, Big E and The New Day were moved to
8710-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
8844-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
8978-678: The NXT Championship. After successful title defenses against Conor O'Brian , Corey Graves , Brad Maddox , and Damien Sandow , Langston eventually lost the NXT Championship to Bo Dallas on the June 12 episode of NXT . On the December 17, 2012 episode of Raw , Langston made his main roster debut by attacking John Cena and aligning with AJ Lee , thus establishing himself as a heel . Langston went on to act as an enforcer for AJ's boyfriend, Dolph Ziggler . On April 7, 2013, at WrestleMania 29 , Langston and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Team Hell No ( Daniel Bryan and Kane ) for
9112-559: The New Day when they unsuccessfully defended their tag titles against The Bar on SmackDown 1000 . On January 27, Big E entered the 2019 Royal Rumble , but was eliminated by Samoa Joe . In the lead-up to WrestleMania 35 , Big E's New Day teammate Kofi Kingston was attempting to earn a shot at the WWE Championship and after many attempts, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon granted him the title shot after Big E and Xavier Woods defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, The Bar, The Usos, and Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan in
9246-458: The November 21 and 28 editions of Raw against Cesaro and Sheamus and Gallows and Anderson, respectively. On the December 12 episode of Raw , The New Day retained the titles in two triple threat tag team matches, first involving Gallows and Anderson and Cesaro and Sheamus and the second involving Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens and the team of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins . At Roadblock: End of
9380-500: The November 29 episode of Raw , Big E lost to Kevin Owens in a non-title match via disqualification after Rollins interfered, so Owens was added to Big E's Day 1 title match. On the December 13 episode of Raw , Big E was pinned by Bobby Lashley in a non-title no disqualification match after Rollins, Owens and MVP interfered, so Lashley was added to the title match. Hours before Day 1, due to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns contracting COVID-19, Reigns' scheduled opponent Brock Lesnar
9514-582: The Usos and the Bludgeon Brothers in a triple threat tag team match for the titles, which were won by The Bludgeon Brothers. On July 15, The New Day were defeated by SAnitY in a six-man tables match at the Extreme Rules pre-show. The New Day then competed in a tag team title tournament, defeating SAnitY in the first round, while Cesaro and Sheamus defeated the Usos. The New Day then defeated Cesaro and Sheamus
9648-504: The WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel . At Survivor Series on November 21, Big E suffered a clean loss to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a non-title match. On the November 22 episode of Raw , Big E had a successful title defense against Austin Theory . Big E was originally scheduled to defend his WWE Championship at the WWE Day 1 event against Seth Rollins. On
9782-435: The WWE Championship against Lashley, which ended in a disqualification after a brawl between the New Day and Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin . The match was rescheduled as a cage match later that night, where Big E defeated Lashley to retain the title. As part of the 2021 WWE Draft , Big E was officially drafted to Raw , while Kingston and Woods were drafted to SmackDown . On October 21, Big E successfully defended
9916-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
10050-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
10184-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
10318-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
10452-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
10586-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
10720-424: The championship but would be attacked by Crews after the match. On the March 26 episode of SmackDown , Big E was pinned by Crews in a six-man tag match, which gave Crews another opportunity for the championship at WrestleMania 37 . At Night 2 of WrestleMania on April 11, Big E lost the Intercontinental Championship to Crews in a Nigerian Drum Fight due to interference from Commander Azeez . He challenged Crews for
10854-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
10988-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
11122-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
11256-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
11390-443: The distraction of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and costing them the tag titles. On the November 14 edition of SmackDown , The Shield led an attack with Raw Superstars and invaded SmackDown similar to the one led by SmackDown and attacked everyone including New Day. At Survivor Series on November 19, The New Day lost to The Shield. The New Day failed to regain the titles from The Usos at Clash of Champions on December 17 in
11524-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
11658-517: The event, they failed to regain the titles. At Survivor Series on November 21, 2021, Omos participated in a 25-men dual-branded battle royal in honor of the 25th anniversary of The Rock's debut at the 1996 Survivor Series . Omos had the most eliminations at 12 and won the match by last eliminating Ricochet . After weeks of tension between him and Styles, on the December 20, 2021, episode of Raw , Omos refused to tag into their match against Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio , ultimately costing them
11792-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
11926-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
12060-438: The following months. On June 15, 2020, he made his television debut during the episode of Monday Night Raw , where he was presented as a surprise member of Akira Tozawa 's ninja faction. Appearing as the tallest member of the faction, Omogbehin was referred to only as the "Giant Ninja" as he stood at ringside during team Tozawa's tag match against The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders , however, he would be repackaged as
12194-400: The following week on SmackDown to earn the right to face The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam on August 19, where they won the match by disqualification, meaning the Bludgeon Brothers retained their titles. Two days later on SmackDown , however, The New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers in a No Disqualification match to capture the titles for the third time. Big E and Woods then represented
12328-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
12462-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
12596-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
12730-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
12864-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
12998-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
13132-477: The match. A fight broke out between the two, effectively ending their alliance when Omos turned on a now face AJ Styles. On the January 3, 2022, episode of Raw , a week after splitting up from Styles, a match was set up between the two on Raw , where Omos defeated Styles. On January 29, at the Royal Rumble , Omos entered the namesake match for the first time in his career at number 11, where he eliminated Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins , and Damian Priest before he
13266-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
13400-512: The premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
13534-579: The process. Three days later, on the October 21 episode of Raw , Langston teamed up with Punk to defeat Axel and Ryback, with Langston pinning Axel. He was set to receive an Intercontinental Championship match against Axel at Hell in a Cell on October 27, but Axel was pulled from the match shortly before the pay-per-view due to a legitimate hip injury. Langston instead challenged for the United States Championship against Dean Ambrose , winning by countout . The following night on Raw , he
13668-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
13802-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
13936-535: The right time, and it's something that I have developed a passion for." Ewen was assigned to FCW, where he debuted on December 17, 2009, under the ring name Big E Langston . On May 12, 2011, Langston and Calvin Raines defeated Richie Steamboat and Seth Rollins to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship , but they lost the championship to CJ Parker and Donny Marlow on July 21, 2011. During
14070-630: The sport after choosing to attend the University of South Florida where he played at the center position. Omogbehin met basketball legend Hakeem Olajuwon during the USF Bulls' team trip to Houston, Texas , in 2014. Omogbehin also played basketball at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland after transferring from USF; he played center for the Morgan State Bears from 2014 to 2015. He also played as
14204-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
14338-492: The summer of 2014, Big E was put in a team with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods , usually as a manager. In November, WWE began airing vignettes for Big E, Kingston and Woods, with the stable now being billed as The New Day. The New Day made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Curtis Axel, Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil . They started a brief feud with Gold and Stardust , which Big E and Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust at
14472-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
14606-427: The title to Bad News Barrett , and failed to regain it the following night on Raw , ending his reign at 167 days. Big E later became involved in a feud with Rusev , which led to consecutive bouts at Payback on June 1 and Money in the Bank on June 29, both of which Big E lost. At Battleground on July 20, Big E competed in a battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship, which was won by The Miz . During
14740-464: The titles against Gallows and Anderson. On October 30, at Hell in a Cell , The New Day lost to the team of Cesaro and Sheamus by disqualification but retained the titles. The next night on Raw , The New Day revealed that they were made captain of Team Raw for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016, which Team Raw won after defeating Team SmackDown. The New Day had two successful title defenses on
14874-489: The titles against The Revival in a ladder match. On January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble , Big E participated in the Royal Rumble match but was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown on February 27, Big E and Kingston lost the championships against John Morrison and the Miz and failed to regain the titles at Elimination Chamber on March 8. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown , Big E, who represented The New Day, won
15008-408: The titles back from Miz, who represented himself and Morrison, in a triple threat match, also involving Jey Uso, who represented The Usos, making The New Day six-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions. At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on July 19, The New Day would lose the championships to Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Tables match after Cesaro and Nakamura put Kingston through two tables. On
15142-414: The titles for about a month before The New Day won them back on SmackDown Live that September. At Hell in a Cell on October 8, Big E and Woods took on The Usos in the namesake match but lost the championships. On the October 23 edition of Raw , The New Day along with other talents of SmackDown ambushed the Raw wrestlers. They again appeared on the November 6 episode of Raw in the crowd, which led to
15276-455: The titles in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match , and all three members were allowed to compete in a pre-match stipulation. On June 14, they lost the titles at Money in the Bank against The Prime Time Players ( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil), but they would regain the titles at SummerSlam on August 23. The following night on Raw , they started a feud with The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ), setting up
15410-766: The top of his head; suffering a broken neck , with fractures to his C1 and C6 vertebrae , but no ligament or spinal cord injury and that he would not require surgery. He had an onscreen reunion with Kingston and Woods on May 20, but stated in an interview one month later that it is unclear if he will ever be able to wrestle again. Following his recovery, Big E mostly serves as a host, guest or panelist on various WWE shows. In August 2023, he revealed that he had been advised by doctors never to wrestle again despite having no nerve damage or strength issues. He said, "They said like, 'Hey, I would not wrestle again if I were you.' So, for me, at 37, these are things that I think about. ... I started this job at 23 years old, and probably had
15544-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
15678-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
15812-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
15946-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
16080-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
16214-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
16348-419: Was also added to Big E's title match. In the fatal five-way match on January 1, 2022, Big E lost his title when he was cleanly pinned by Lesnar, ending Big E's reign at 110 days. On the January 3 episode of Raw , Big E wrestled Lashley, Owens, and Rollins for a WWE Championship shot against Lesnar, but Lashley won. On the following episode of Raw , Big E challenged Rollins to an immediate match and suffered
16482-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
16616-533: Was eliminated by Styles, Austin Theory , Chad Gable , Dominik Mysterio , Ricochet , and Ridge Holland . On Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 , he faced Bobby Lashley in a losing effort, marking his first pinfall loss in WWE. On the April 4 episode of Raw , Omos would begin feuding with Lashley and acquired a new manager in MVP , who had turned on Lashley, thus forming an alliance between the two. He defeated Lashley at WrestleMania Backlash with MVP’s help, but lost to him in
16750-479: Was eliminated by him at the Royal Rumble match. He also was defeated by Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 39 . He would then lose to Seth Rollins at Backlash . Omos would return as the final entry in the Slim Jim SummerSlam Battle Royal. In the 2024 Royal Rumble , Omos entered at number #21 eliminating Bronson Reed before being eliminated by Bron Breakker . He participated in the 2024 André
16884-568: Was granted a rematch for the title, winning the match by disqualification after Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins interfered. On the November 18 episode of Raw , Langston received his postponed championship match with Axel and won the Intercontinental Championship, his first singles championship on the main roster. At Survivor Series on November 24, Langston successfully retained his title against Axel. Langston then successfully retained his championship against Damien Sandow on December 15 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs . On January 26, 2014, at
17018-490: Was not a part of the match). On the February 5 episode on SmackDown , Big E retained his title against Crews and Zayn in a triple threat match . Following this, Crews would begin to target Big E to the point where Crews injured Big E, taking him out of action for several weeks. Big E returned on the March 12 episode of SmackDown , accepting Crews' offer for a rematch at Fastlane on March 21, where Big E would once again retain
17152-805: Was pressing on his optical nerves as well and would have caused blindness. He underwent surgeries in 2012 and 2013 to remove the tumor. As a result, he now requires lifelong hormone replacement therapy since his body no longer produces testosterone naturally. Omogbehin was born on May 16, 1994, in Lagos , Nigeria. He was sent to the United States on a scholarship alone when he was just fifteen with his family staying in Nigeria, though he has an older brother that lives in Indiana . Omogbehin attended and graduated from Atlantic Shores Christian School in Chesapeake, Virginia , and through high school, he played basketball and continued in
17286-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
17420-429: Was promoted to WWE's main roster in December 2012, and found his greatest success as a part of The New Day, with whom he has become a two-time Raw Tag Team Champion and a six-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion . As a part of The New Day, he holds the tandem record for the longest Raw Tag Team Championship reign at 483 days. In 2020, Ewen resumed his singles career and was eventually separated from his New Day teammates in
17554-495: Was revealed to be a ploy by AJ Lee, the number one contender to Kaitlyn's title, to humiliate Kaitlyn. Langston and AJ continued to mock Kaitlyn over the following weeks, with AJ ultimately winning the title at Payback on June 16. On the July 15 episode of Raw , Ziggler ended his relationship with AJ, which led to Langston attacking him later in the evening. On the July 29 episode of Raw , Langston lost to Ziggler by disqualification after AJ interfered and attacked Ziggler. In
17688-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
17822-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
17956-422: Was the reigning WWE Champion). On September 15, they lost the titles to The Revival at Clash of Champions , but regained it on the November 8 episode of SmackDown , becoming record five-time champions as a team, and a record fifth reign for Big E individually (Woods is not recognized for this reign due to an injury). At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, Big E and Kingston successfully defended
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