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Given that Big E is Mr. Money in the Bank, the big question is as to who he will cash his briefcase in on. His two options as of this writing are Roman Reigns on SmackDown and Bobby Lashley on RAW, but that could easily change to John Cena and Goldberg.
Either way, the likeliness of him cashing in to win the WWE Championship seems far more likely, since Reigns is on top of his game and seems unbeatable right now. Even Cena, the former franchise player of WWE, seems unlikely to beat The Tribal Chief.
Let's look at a scenario where Big E defeats the winner of Lashley vs. Goldberg and becomes the WWE Champion. Here are five major consequences that could happen:
#5. Big E winning would mean no Goldberg until 2022
It seems as though Goldberg's deal with WWE is two matches a year - at least since 2019. Over 14 months after his Hall of Fame induction, he made his in-ring return in a disastrous match against The Undertaker.
The Phenom bounced back quickly with a good tag team match, but Goldberg took a couple of more months off before returning for a SummerSlam appearance - squashing Dolph Ziggler.
In 2020, he returned to beat The Fiend and capture the Universal Championship before losing it to Braun Strowman a month later at the pre-taped WrestleMania 36. In 2021, he returned to face Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble but was unsuccessful.
Whether Goldberg becomes WWE Champion or not, SummerSlam 2021 could be his last appearance for the year. However, it seems more likely that Bobby Lashley will retain, somehow, so Big E can cash in on him. The chances of WWE using the Hall of Famer as the man to get cashed in on seems slim to none.
Either way, if Big E walks out of SummerSlam as the WWE Champion, then it's all but guaranteed that Goldberg is done for this year. With a huge AT&T Stadium show expected for WrestleMania 38, it wouldn't be surprising to see him return in time for that.
#4. Big E winning might mark the end of Bobby Lashley's first and last World title reign in WWE
Big E cashing in on Bobby Lashley seems to be the most likely scenario, whether it's at SummerSlam or not. Roman Reigns hasn't been pinned for a very long time and has been more protected than The All Mighty WWE Champion on RAW.
Even still, Lashley's current WWE Championship run is deserved and fun to watch. However, given that he is 45 years old, he may be in the midst of his sole World Championship reign in the company. Even if Bobby Lashley ends his career with only one WWE title, he can proudly look back at it being a memorable one.
Moreover, Big E would be the right man to dethrone Lashley. The RAW roster isn't particularly strong right now, both on the men's and women's side. But The All Mighty may never reach the same level of World Championship success in the promotion again.
#3. Big E cements himself as a main event-level superstar
It was rumored that before Vince McMahon wanted to build WWE around Roman Reigns, Big E was his "pet project".
"Sean Waltman was on PWTorch Livecast a few months ago and he said that he told Hunter [Triple H] back then that Roman Reigns is potentially a guy that they should build around...so I blame Sean Waltman! But Hunter a year ago was debating Vince McMahon. Hunter saying "I like Roman" and Vince was saying "I like Big E". I mean clearly, Roman is way ahead of him now but...I mean not that Vince wasn't for Roman but Vince's big project was Big E at that moment." said Wade Keller of PWTorch.
It should come as no surprise then, that seven years later, he is receiving the biggest singles push of his WWE career. When he was split from The New Day via the WWE Draft in 2020, it was evident that there were big plans for him as a singles star.
It seemed apt since he was only a month away from completing seven years with The New Day. That's an incredible tenure in itself and it makes sense that the company would want Big E to be a singles star at this point. Becoming the WWE Champion will cement his arrival to the main event scene in the promotion.
#2. Big E moves to RAW and Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to move the other way?
The 2020 WWE Draft saw Big E get split from The New Day. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, only to get drafted to RAW - without Big E.
The shock and disappointment in the face of all three men seemed all too genuine, but the former Intercontinental Champion told Ryan Satin that he was happy it didn't end with one member plunging a steel chair on the others' backs.
It was an organic split and it feels as though Mr. Money in the Bank is simply representing the faction on SmackDown while Kingston and Woods are doing so on RAW. Even then, WWE seems to be making a subtle but conscious effort to eventually distance Big E from The New Day, similarly to how they did so with Roman Reigns and The Shield.
Paul Heyman told him in December 2020 on Talking Smack that ten years from then, his accomplishments with Kingston and Woods will pale in comparison to his accolades as a singles star. That should be the goal, and the company knows that.
Since the Draft is reportedly taking place in early October again, Big E winning the WWE title would mean a move to RAW. It would make The New Day a strong trio for a month, but we can see a scenario where Kingston and Woods get sent the other way to SmackDown to not disrupt Big E's incredible momentum.
#1. Big E winning the WWE Championship benefits Drew McIntyre
One of the superstars who stands to gain the most from Big E winning the WWE Championship is Drew McIntyre. Rather, anybody dethroning Bobby Lashley benefits McIntyre. Since Goldberg winning could result in a rematch between him and The Scottish Warrior, the situation seems unlikely.
Even if Big E wins the WWE Championship, it's likely best for Drew McIntyre to stay out of the World title picture for a while. It was interesting because right as crowds returned, there seemed to be a slightly poor reception for the previously popular superstar, who carried the company on his back for most of 2020.
However, after McIntyre started his non-title feud with Jinder Mahal, the favorable reactions seem to have returned. Big E vs. Drew McIntyre would undoubtedly be an interesting feud, but perhaps one for the end of the year.
The former will have plenty of other challengers in the meanwhile, including Bobby Lashley himself. However, McIntyre returning to the WWE Championship picture seems to be an inevitability down the line.
