Big E Reveals Insane Amount Of Weight He Once Deadlifted In The Gym
Former WWE Champion Big E's background in powerlifting still influences his training regimen. In fact, he feels one list is important for almost any athlete.
"I feel like squatting is just, squatting is the best athletic lift, I think," Big E told WWE German-language commentator Sebastian Hackl. "I think it transfers pretty much anything you do in sports. You know, I played football, amateur wrestling, pretty much anything I've done, squatting is a great base. Everything, everything. I've always taken a lot of pride in my squat and doing it the right, hitting parallel and you know, I'm proud of the fact that, you know, squatting 750 pounds, don't ask me if I can do that right, because I cannot. Squatting 750 is something that I'm really proud of. Doing that raw, doing it in a drug-tested federation as well, so I'll go squat."
Some of Big E's most memorable lifts were captured on video and later included in last year's WWE 24 documentary on his career. But he said his biggest deadlift happened in the privacy of a gym.
"I did it at a meet like 799 and some change, they're very specific about these things because everything's in kilos," Big E recalled. "But 806 was my best deadlift in the gym."
Big E has dealt with numerous injuries during his athletic career. He says many people don't realize how difficult it can be to come back from those injuries.
"Honestly, rehab is one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with," Big E said. "Especially dealing with tearing my ACL at age 18. You spend nine months, and rehab it might be two hours and that's on top of your weightlifting and all the other things that you're doing. But it takes a lot of time and effort, and it's not easy coming from surgery to working on your mobility to getting your strength back, to pushing it.
"One thing that, you know, a lot of athletes go through that I've talked to is just trusting your body. That's a big thing again, is, okay, the first time I did the same motion I did when I tore my ACL, I have to do that again. I have to trust that my body is capable of doing that on a regular basis."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE–Die Woche with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.