10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The New Day

Given his effortless charisma and penchant for one-liners, it's kind of incredible that Big E's original gimmick amounted to little more than a generic, muscle monster, broadly comparable to the likes of Bobby Lashley and Ryback.

Down in NXT, in fact, Big E took to demanding that referees count to five, as opposed to the traditional three, before awarding him victory, apparently fearing that fans would not be sufficiently impressed with his bulging biceps unless they watched him KO his opponents.

For one thing, it wasn't even an original gimmick. The five count thing had already been used by King Kong Bundy during the 1980s (and it probably worked to greater effect back then, when truck-sized athletes were still something of a novelty).

Worse than that, WWE officials were essentially guilty of typecasting one of their most promising young performers. Had New Day not come along a year later, Big E might have met with the same fate as someone like Chris Masters - which doesn't say much for the company's ability to identify and harness talent.