Paul Heyman Keeps Pushing for Big E to Split From The New Day

 Paul Heyman once again pushed for Big E to fully separate himself from The New Day while on the ESPR Podcast this week. While E has been on separate brands from Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods since the 2020 WWE Draft (give or take a few weeks), the three have always maintained that they are still unified as a trio. But Heyman explained that a split would be just as good for E as it wound up being for Roman Reigns, who was pushed up to main event status not long after The Shield broke up back in 2014. 

"I was very complimentary towards Big E and I still am," Heyman said (h/t Fightful). "Big E needs to break away from The New Day the same way Roman Reigns broke away from the Shield. Roman Reigns became such a megastar that the Shield could not contain Roman Reigns' stardom any further. Big E needs to take that same approach regarding King Woods and Kofi Kingston and the New Day. Big E is WWE Champion. When you think about the responsibility and obligation and accountability of being WWE Champion, we're talking Bruno Sammartino, Superstar Billy Graham, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Triple H, these are the names whose legacies are now carried on the back of Big E. He has to stop being concerned with the New Day. That's what I've tried to explain to him on Talking Smack. When he takes an individualistic approach and understands his role, he will be a supremely dominant WWE Champion, second in WWE only to the Tribal Chief and Universal Champion Roman Reigns,"

King Woods is scheduled to face Roman Reigns on this week's SmackDown for "Rule of the Blue Brand." Heyman dared E to show up to support Woods and Kofi Kingston elsewhere in the interview.

"If Big E has the balls to show up on SmackDown and he'd like a preview of the a—kicking he's going to get at Survivor Series, he's welcome to show up," E said. "Kofi got taken out by the Usos. If I'm Big E, I would not adhere to these grand boundaries -- he's on Raw and we're on SmackDown and he can't show up -- If I'm Big E, I show up at the Norfolk Scope and I try to do something about the fact that Kofi got smashed by the Usos. Then again, I'm not Big E, I'm a highly intelligent man with a great deal of street smarts. I don't know if Big E is. If he is, he'll show up. If he's not, he'll find out at Survivor Series the smashing he's going to get at the hands of Roman Reigns."