CM Punk "Saved" This WWE Champion's Career
None other than CM Punk went to bat backstage for this "floundering" WWE star.
Big E says a match with CM Punk on the 30 September 2013 episode of Monday Night Raw "saved [his] career".
The former WWE Champion was "floundering" back then, and didn't really know what the future had in store for him. So, he was buoyed by Punk's support behind the scenes - CM went to bat for E, and pitched a match opposite him on the flagship to show management backstage what the soon-to-be New Day stalwart could do.
E told The Sarah O'Connell Show he'll always be grateful to Punk for that. Looking back, he can see that Punk "looking out for young talent" potentially saved his WWE career from hitting the skids. Big E had gone from playing bodyguard to AJ Lee and tagging with Dolph Ziggler to doing pretty much nothing, and he wasn't getting much of a look-in on TV at the time.
It was Punk who approached the writers with an idea and asked for some ring time with the promising rookie. That changed perceptions of E behind the curtain, and led to bigger and better things for the future WWE Champ.
He'll never forget it.