"I knew he was breaking records" - former World Champion on his first impression of Big E

WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler was all praise for his former protégé Big E.

Dolph Ziggler was on this week's episode of WWE's the Bump along with Natalya and Titus O'Neil. On the show, The Showoff spoke about mentoring Big E during the early days of his career. Ziggler had taken Big E under his wing back in 2012 and formed a formidable tag team with the powerhouse.

Ziggler detailed that it was very hard to become a champion in the business and Big E did it because of his relentless hard work.

Here's what Ziggler had to say about the current WWE champion:

"Do you know how hard it is to be World Champion in this business? It's hard to do even for the best of the best. So when I first saw him, I went like 'This guy looks like he's in the zone.' I had seen him work out. I knew he was breaking records, lifting weights. So he's going to stand here and watch my back and he gets to learn from one of the best going and hopefully he applies that and he becomes great down the line. He was great from the moment he stepped in as a hard working kid and now as the flagship guy of his brand," Ziggler said.

You can watch the full video here:

Big E will be in a triple-threat match at WWE Day 1

Big E has had an impressive championship run but he will be put to the test when he faces off against Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a triple-threat match for the WWE Championship at Day 1.

Both Rollins and Owens are former Universal Champions and are no strangers to the big stage. The odds will be stacked against Big E as the current WWE champion does not need to be pinned to lose the title under the triple threat rules.

Which superstar will start off 2022 as the WWE Champion? Sound off in the comments below.

---

While using the quote from this article, please credit WWE's the Bump and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.