Claudio Castagnoli Recalls Big E’s Effortless 500-Pound Squat

Claudio Castagnoli has a story about Big E that sounds almost too good to be true — except it lines up perfectly with everything we already know about the former WWE Champion’s freakish strength.

Speaking with Sky Sports, Castagnoli recalled sharing gym time with Big E and watching him casually squat 500 pounds “like it was nothing” — all while Castagnoli himself was still grinding through a ten-minute elliptical warm-up. It’s the kind of anecdote that doubles as a compliment and a bit of self-deprecating humor, with one of the most respected strongmen in wrestling essentially admitting he was still stretching while his old colleague was moving elite powerlifting numbers for fun.

The pairing makes sense given both men’s backgrounds. Big E built a reputation long before his wrestling career as a competitive powerlifter and collegiate athlete, and he carried that raw strength into WWE, where his squat and deadlift numbers became the stuff of locker room legend even among a roster full of gym rats. Castagnoli, for his part, has long been regarded as one of the most powerful in-ring performers of his generation, known for feats like the giant swing and an uppercut that looks like it could separate a jaw from a skull. When Castagnoli was still working for WWE, both men crossed paths regularly, giving him a front-row seat to Big E’s workouts before Castagnoli eventually made his way to AEW.

Stories like this tend to resonate with fans because they offer a rare glimpse behind the curtain of what wrestlers are actually doing when the cameras aren’t rolling. The pro wrestling business sells drama and characters, but the gym is where a lot of that credibility gets built — and anecdotes about jaw-dropping strength from guys like Big E only add to the mythology that surrounds him, even during a period when he hasn’t been an active in-ring competitor.

Big E has been sidelined since suffering a serious neck injury in 2022, a moment that remains one of the more sobering scenes in recent WWE memory. He’s remained a visible presence around the company since then, doing commentary and media work, but has not returned to competition. Stories like the one Castagnoli shared serve as a reminder of just how gifted an athlete Big E was in his prime, and why so many fans continue to hold out hope for a return down the line.

For now, it’s simply a fun bit of trivia from two performers whose paths intersected in WWE before diverging — one now a headline act in AEW, the other a beloved figure whose in-ring future remains uncertain.