Sean Rueter has been following professional wrestling since at least WrestleMania I and has been blogging about it for SBNation & Cageside Seats since WrestleMania 28.
My knowledge of Tony Hinchcliffe is mostly limited to a few of his roast performances and his controversial appearance at a Donald Trump rally before the 2016 election in New York City. Based on what I knew, I didn’t expect much humor when he joined the commentary team on Raw on April 7. I tried to put any political bias aside and see if he could bring something funny to a wrestling setting, especially since WWE and Hinchcliffe are now apparently working together, likely due to their shared partner, Netflix.
Humor, of course, is subjective, but I found Hinchcliffe’s performance on-screen to be far from funny. Much of his material seemed aimed at “roasting” Michael Cole with jabs that would have felt outdated even if Jerry Lawler had delivered them years ago.
However, you didn’t click here for my review—you clicked because, in true Hinchcliffe style, he used his barbs directed at Cole to make other remarks. One of these jabs was when he said Cole was “stiffer than Big E’s neck.”
This line was brought up by Sam Roberts when Big E appeared on the Raw Recap podcast after the show. Asked about Hinchcliffe’s joke about the injury that nearly ended his wrestling career, Big E took the high road, making it clear that he was not consulted about the comment beforehand:
“At my big age of 39, people will say whatever they want about you. Their opinion of me is not my concern. It’s not my business,” Big E said. “Look, say what you want. He was given a microphone and an opportunity. People will have their opinions, whether they’re jokes or not. That’s their right.”
He continued, “I get it—being on here, it’s about reacting to what’s said on the show, especially if it’s about me. But it gets tiring to weigh in on everyone’s opinion. Honestly, I’m not hurt. I’m fine. I really have no desire to engage in this. I didn’t sign up for it. I wasn’t aware of it. He did his thing, and people signed off on it. It has nothing to do with me.”
Big E’s response was both classy and calm—just what we’d expect from the WWE star.
