Big E sat down with Bleacher Report to discuss a variety of topics, including Booker T's recent comments about him.

On his new solo run: “It’s been a lot of fun, actually. It’s nice to do something different. As much as I love doing tag stuff, it’s been a nice change of pace and it challenges you in a different way, creatively. Also, I had more time to think about what I want to do with this run and how I want it to go.”

On the positive feedback he’s had since moving back to singles competition: “I’m excited about it, and it’s been really heartwarming to see all the positive feedback from people who have been supportive of it and of the run. It’s unfortunate that it had to do with Kofi being out for a little bit, and hopefully it’s something that doesn’t last too long, but we’ll see. Everything’s kind of open right now, so I don’t really know exactly what the direction is, but I’m excited to give this my all and to see where it goes.”

On his goals for the future: “That’s always been my focus and knocking it out of the park whenever I can and sometimes it falls short. Sometimes you don’t. That’s been my goal, and now I have this opportunity in front of me. It’s not really clearly defined. It’s just, ‘Hey, you got some singles.’ Obviously, we have some singles titles on our show that would be nice to hold, but everything right now is fair game.”

On his thoughts on Booker T’s criticisms on him: “If I were to come out a week later and you see me for five years pouring cereal on people’s heads and log-rolling to the ring and suddenly I’m serious, to me there’s a vast disconnect. Like, what’s changed? Because you’re no longer doing tags, now you’re a different person? That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I think also it’s about what makes me different, what makes me unique. We have guys that are taller than me and bigger than me. We have Bobby Lashley, you have your Brock Lesnar. We have these guys that can be serious and play that role well, and I don’t want to ever be a lite version of anyone else.” This is not a shot at Booker at all. I am so thoroughly entertained by his career, but this man had a world title around his waist as King Booker doing a faux English accent. You know I mean? Let’s put things in perspective here. And it was entertaining and it was great and it worked! For me, I hear some of it because people bring it to my attention and I know Booker is a supporter, so this is not supposed to be a shot at him. We’ve had conversations too where he’s said some really nice things to me to my face, so I’m not here to take shots at him. I learned a lot from watching him, he’s a guy I loved watching as a kid. He meant so much to so many of us as someone who was a great talent and a great entertainer, but for me, it’s going to be about telling a story that makes sense. It doesn’t make sense to me to suddenly be serious.”