Big E LangstonBio
The word “Big” almost feels like an understatement when talking about Big E Langston, but how else do you describe a 290-pound tank of a man who can deadlift a Fiat? Superhuman comes to mind. So does Herculean. “Big” leaves no question about the type of carnage this beast will bring to WWE.
How did Langston become one of the most physically intimidating men on the planet? Leaving an ocean of sweat in the weight room helped, but the sobering fact is that some people are just born special. Langston was always the strongest kid in class — an advantage he used to win state championships in high school wrestling and punish quarterbacks on the defensive line for the University of Iowa.
By the time he was 24, Langston was already shattering state and national powerlifting records as he threw around numbers not witnessed since the days when Mark Henry was active in the sport — 800-pound deadlifts; 529 pounds on the bench. Had squats been a national pastime there’s a chance WWE fans would never have witnessed the phenomenon that is Big E Langston. But the titan’s desire for the world to see what he was capable of brought him to WWE’s developmental system, NXT.
Utilizing his amateur background and comic book–like strength, Langston had little trouble turning full-grown fighting machines into whimpering babies. The big man’s dominance was such that he demanded referees count to five instead of the requisite three — an exclamation point that illustrated just how much he enjoyed humiliating his outmatched competition.
WWE officials predicted major things for Big E Langston, but nobody expected him to arrive in WWE the way he did. It was on the Dec. 17 edition of Raw that the behemoth first appeared in front of the WWE Universe, charging down the entrance ramp alongside AJ Lee as John Cena tangled with Dolph Ziggler in the ring. Immediately, the hulking monster grabbed Cena, tossed him onto his shoulder as if his body was filled with helium and then slammed him into the mat with frightening authority.
The fact that Langston manhandled the Cenation leader once was impressive. When he did it again the next night on SmackDown it became clear that he was more than just some oversized lout who got lucky.
In his first true test as a WWE Superstar, Big E Langston teamed with Dolph Ziggler to challenge Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 29. While Langston looked extremely impressive in his debut, fighting out of a Chokeslam and muscling around Kane, he and Ziggler did not capture the titles. Still, if his first match was any indication, one thing is clear — Big E Langston is a big problem.
