New Day is one of the greatest acts in WWE history. The trio has consistently sold lots of merchandise and holds numerous tag-team title records in the company. It didn’t start off that successful, however. The initial reaction to the team was lukewarm at best. Big E recently spoke with Samoa Joe on WWE’s new Grit and Glory series about New Day’s rise over the years.
“Well, for anyone who ended up watching during our early years, you know it was not easy at all,” Big E said on the show. “It was a rough start, for sure. But we realized from an early period and our time together that we had a special chemistry and a special bond. A lot of that bond was really forged through the tough times and trying to get this group off the ground and trying to get it on TV.”
“We just had that mentality of we gotta sink or swim on our own merits. I viewed it as this could be my final run and last opportunity, so I gotta give it my all. I didn’t want my career to dissolve based on me passively accepting anything I was given if it didn’t feel right. So, I knew this was it. I knew this was something special.”
Big E also spoke about how originally fans weren’t chanting “New Day Rocks” but rather they chanted “New Day Sucks.”
“I remember we were in Philadelphia and we got met with loud ‘New Day sucks’ chants,” E continued. “We were supposed to be the good guys. We were supposed to be the guys that were cheered and beloved, but people weren’t having it.”
Big E says he is grateful for New Day’s early struggles, however.
“All those tough times, I’m so grateful for. That’s what brought us closer together. We didn’t quit, we didn’t say enough of this. We said we’re gonna get better, we’re gonna work harder, we’re gonna give you more of ourselves. If anything, it stoked our fire and got us more passionate about what we wanted to do and what we wanted to accomplish. I don’t know if we get this far without the tough times.”
transcriptions via 411 Mania
