Ettore ‘Big E’ Ewen is a WWE superstar, but back in college he played football at Iowa and regularly frequented a local burrito joint called Pancheros.
Big E, Iowa and Pancheros have teamed up for a campaign about a Hawkeye tradition called the Burrito Lift, and he recently spoke exclusively with Sports Talk Philly on why he’d do this promotion for free, the latest on his neck injury, feeling at peace about retirement, the future of The New Day, the Vince McMahon doc and much more.
Key Stories From The Interview
- The next step for Kofi and Xavier after the recent “turmoil” within The New Day
- Why he’s “definitely” going to watch the Vince McMahon Netflix documentary
- Getting stem cell treatments in hopes of getting back in the ring
- Being at peace with retirement if he doesn’t wrestle again
- His WWE Mount Rushmore
- Being inspired by The Rock’s move from wrestler to Hollywood star
Full Transcript
Q: Did Pancheros approach you about being in their campaign? How did it come about?
Big E: “So I had been a fan of Pancheros since college. It was my favorite burrito chain. It’s one of those places that, for people who I’ve met along my travels and in my work, who have never been to Iowa or never had Pancheros, I’m always beating the drum for them, saying you’ve had your Chipotle and you’ve had these other places, but you don’t know about Pancheros. In 2004, when I got to Iowa, my roommates and my teammates, so many of us would go to Pancheros. When I was traveling with the WWE, anytime I was in Iowa or near a Pancheros, I would get a burrito and I would post about it. So I was such a fan of the burrito that a few years ago they reached out, and we started talking about partnerships, and then went from there. But it really just started with me being a huge fan of the brand and the burrito for 20 years now.”
Q: Is that the best type of partnership, where you were advocating for something far before there was talk of any brand collaboration? That wasn’t something you were thinking about as a college kid who just wanted one of their burritos.
EE: “That’s the best way, man, because now you’re not having to pretend to enjoy the burrito. I would do this for free, if they asked me to promote this burrito. I have done it for free. I have posted about it for free just because I love it. When you have that excitement, knowledge and passion for the brand, it makes it such an easy crossover, because you can truly speak from the heart. That’s what I want people to know. I’m not doing this because they asked me to. I’m doing this because I love this brand.”
Q: Iowa has the Burrito Lift tradition. When did you first see that?
EE: “When you’re a player you’re so locked in on the game, so it’s something that occurred after my time on the field. I’m a football fan, and it’s something you notice when you go to games, when I have the opportunity to go back. It’s such a cool part of the game, seeing fans get into it. And the connection between Pancheros and Iowa football, with Pancheros starting off in Iowa City, it was such a no-brainer.”
Q: What’s your go-to burrito or taco order at Pancheros?
EE: “If I’m not worried about my girlish figure or any of those things, I’m getting the burrito. Fresh-pressed tortilla. I’m going white rice. I’m going black beans. I typically don’t eat much red meat, but if I splurge I’m going double steak. You gotta have the queso. The queso separates it from the rest of these burrito chains. The fresh veggies are a must-have as well. And then corn, pico de gallo, cheese, and I’m done.”
Q: Since you were posting this for free back in the day, was it cool when Pancheros reached out?
EE: “I geeked out, honestly. There is a group of us that have a group chat called the ‘Miller Boys,’ which is all of us that lived at 830 Miller, which is the same house George Kittle lived at, which he famously has tattooed on him. I talk with those guys on almost a daily basis, we still text, and thankfully with all my travels at work, I’ve been able to see all of them about once a year, even though they are spread across the country. But as soon as I found out, I let them know. That was our meeting ground. We would always take the window spot at the downtown Iowa City Pancheros. We would be at the window, looking out, people watching, our burrito in hand. That was our go-to, so it was so full circle to reach out and say, ‘You know the spot we’d be at weekly, if not daily? The burrito spot we loved as college kids, now I’m being able to do stuff with them.’”
Q: Injury-wise, has there been any improvement physically of late (after the 2022 injury)? Are you in the same spot you have been with the neck fracture?
EE: “I don’t really know because I have no real pain issues. My day-to-day life is very normal. I have no day-to-day issues, no issues with headaches or pain, functioning issues, any of those things. I did go down to a beautiful place called RejuvStem in Cancun, and got some stem cells, so we’ll see. That was about three months ago, so we’ll see how that looks and if there’s any progress there. More than anything, I’m really grateful just to be living a happy, healthy life. No issues at all with my neck right now.”
Q: I cover the NFL, and guys talk a lot about when they leave the game, what they are going to do. It feels like you have a good balance already. Not to say you won’t get back in and wrestle, but is it nice to find fulfillment beyond what you did for so long?
EE: “Very much so. Honestly, I’m someone who for much of my life have had real struggles with my mental health. I had this running morbid joke with a friend of mine that once I retire, ‘Hey, put me on suicide watch for 24-to-48 hours.’ Although it was kind of a joke between us, it underlies something I’ve long thought about with athletes. So many of us put so much of our lives into our careers, and it’s all we really know. Football was my first love, and when football was done for me because of all the injuries, it’s ‘Now who am I?’ With pro wrestling, I’ve spent so much time on the road and in this career. Now when it’s all done, who am I?”
“That was an internal struggle in the back of my mind for so long. Even if I’m financially set and comfortable, if you retire at 35, 40, 45 years old, hopefully you’ll have another 30, 40 years of life left. What do you do every single day? What gets you out of bed, excites you, motivates you? For me, I’m a very goal-oriented person. I struggle without having some sort of career pursuit, or something I’m passionate about to jump into every day. That’s been really the beautiful thing with this neck injury. So many doors have opened to me. The Countdown shows, I’ve had a blast doing those. There have been some other broadcasting opportunities within WWE, stuff I can’t talk about yet that will be out in a few months that I’m excited about. There’s a myriad of things open to me, and so many things I’m excited about. That’s really the lovely thing, that while I’m not in the ring right now, I have so many things I’m excited about and projects I’m working on. Every day, I wake up with that excitement and that passion.
“If this is the end of my career in the ring, I know exactly what I want to do, and all of those things are in motion right now. Even this Pancheros stuff, I’m excited to move forward. It’s not the end of the line for me and Pancheros. We have other things coming down the pipe. So it’s great to be at this point in life, be 38 years and not thinking, ‘OK, my career is coming to an end. Now what?’ It’s, ‘Hey, here are some new challenges and some opportunities coming my way that I’m excited about.”
Q: So are you in a good mindframe in regard to the stem cells? Are you hopeful it can do something and get you back to wrestling, while another part of you is prepared to put an official end to your career?
EE: “Yeah. More than anything, I’m just taking every day as it comes. I know that sounds like a cliche. But I get scans again in another three-to-six months, and if they look great and the doctors say it’s healthy for me to go back, then that’s something where we’ll sit down and talk about it. But I try not to spend too much time worrying about things I can’t control. It’s nice to know that if I get the opportunity to get back in the ring, and I can do it healthily, then let’s do that. Let’s attack it fully. But if not, I know exactly what I want to do, and I’m excited about that path, too.”
Q: That’s very cool. I know Xavier and Kofi have been in the news recently, with Xavier Tweeting about maybe seeing old friends soon. What did you make of that?
EE: “We’ve had a long run. Ten years is a very long time. We’ve been guys where you’ve never really seen any tension from us, but Kofi and Woods right now are going through a bit of turmoil. I think that happens in any marriage, whether it’s a long-lasting one or not. But that’s how people approach being a team together: it feels very much like a marriage in the way you communicate, and sometimes you’re not always on the same page.
“I don’t know exactly what he’s alluding to. I’ve for the most part been hands-off with what those guys are going through right now. I’m still very connected, but it’s one of those things where I don’t want to meddle or be involved if I’m not asked to be involved. I’m hopeful that whatever they are going through they will figure out. We spent a decade together, even at a time when no one foresaw us doing these incredible things. The only reason we made it through the tough times in 2014 and 2015 was because we stuck together. It was us against everyone that stood in our way. So I hope more than anything that those guys always remember why we started this, why we came together and how much we care about each other. Ultimately, that’s really what matters, even when we’re done wrestling. It’s a friendship and a bond that will survive long past our in-ring days, and I hope they never forget that.”
The streets saying that I may see some old friends soon. Just so yall know, I'm not a kid anymore.
— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) September 20, 2024
Q: You bring up the marriage analogy and it’s kind of an interesting question: is it better for them to stick together or better for them to say, ‘Hey, we had a great run, and maybe we should go our separate ways at this point.’ Do you have any advice for them or a preference on how they handle this?
EE: “Those guys know what they are doing. When I talk to them, I never really feel like I’m someone that needs to give them advice. They know. Sometimes you just need to be reminded of what you know, and look, Kofi has accomplished incredible things in a singles capacity, and so has Woods. I think there is a route for those guys to amicably go their own way and do singles stuff. I think there is also a route for them to be together as a tag-team. There are a lot of options for two incredibly talented guys. As much as they’ve done, I still feel like there is a lot left on the table.
When I think about Woods, he’s a guy who, somehow, 20 years into his career, still feels slept on. It still feels like people don’t truly understand how good this guy is in the ring. I’d like to see him in a singles match. He’s always busting out new stuff, always doing stuff that’s creative and different. I hope he gets an opportunity to really have a great singles run. We got a chance to see that during his King of the Ring run, and I know he’s got even more in the tank. I’d love to see him get more opportunities as a single, but more than anything I just want those guys to flourish, to have great careers and to be able to write the chapters they want to write.”
Q: The Vince McMahon doc comes out this week. Are you going to watch it? Are you interested to see how he’s portrayed?
EE: “Definitely. It’s obviously someone who has been a massive figure in the industry I’ve made my career in the last 15 years. He’s someone that I worked with closely over the years, so I think all of us who worked with him are interested to see how the story unfolds. I’m sure there are things about his life that I’m not even aware of that will come to light in this doc. I think a lot of people are intrigued to see how it all shakes out, and I’m one of those people.”
Q: Do you have any memorable stories with him? I’d imagine you’ve had interesting convos or been in interesting situations with him. Anything stick out?
EE: “The first thing that comes to mind, as far as being memorable, is when he was involved in the Kofi-mania storyline, essentially saying Kofi isn’t good enough for the spot. A lot of people in his position, a lot of billionaires, are hands off, and he’s someone who’s been really hands-on. He’s someone who’s always around, someone who’s had his hands in this industry for quite a long time. It’s really hard to tell the story of our industry without him, for better or worse. I’m intrigued to see how it all unfolds with this documentary. There are a lot of different ways that people feel about him. And it’s also this blending of an on-screen characters and an off-screen character. Where does that line begin? Where does that line end? He’s a very interesting figure in our industry.”
Q: How did (the short animated film) ‘Bridges’ come together? Do you have a passion for the Civil Rights era?
EE: “It’s been a real labor of love for us. It’s something that me and my creative partners, Johnny Davenport and Andres Hale, started, and the origin of it was in late 2020, after the death of George Floyd. I kept thinking, ‘How can I use my platform in a positive way?’ I had so many of my non-black friends reach out and want to know more about black history, and why people felt this way.
Understanding the frustrations of people of color, of black people post-George Floyd, I think once you understand the history of our people in this country – and not just our pain but also our successes as black people – I kept thinking, what an incredible way to teach people with the wrestling gear. And then it went from the wrestling gear to eventually a Kickstarter for a short film. And we made a short film that we are really excited about. Me and my partners thought, ‘What better story to tell than Ruby Bridges?’”
Q: And one fun before I let you go: Who would be on your WWE Mount Rushmore? I know you’ve seen a lot of wrestling and are an expert on the subject.
EE: “Ooh, that’s a good one. Ugh. I always bristle at making lists because it’s fluid and it depends what mood I’m in. But let’s go with The Rock, (Stone Cold Steve) Austin, John Cena and Bret Hart.”
Q: Do you have an affinity for The Rock because, in addition to his success, you kind of forged the same path? He played college football at Miami before becoming a global star, and now you’re spreading your wings into entertainment stuff.
EE: “It’s hard not to acknowledge how much he’s done for wrestlers, and to help break down that stigma, too. For the longest time in Hollywood, there was this stigma against wrestlers trying to act. Now seeing his success, seeing (Dave) Bautista’s success, seeing Cena’s success, they’re really opening the doors for people to take wrestlers in as entertainment outside the confines of the ring. And (take them) more seriously.
The Rock is the blueprint for anyone going from wrestling to other facets of entertainment. It’s not that I don’t want to carve out my own path and be my own man, but he’s definitely laid out an incredible roadmap for how to diversify yourself.”
